Osmetech licenses VKOR pharmacogenetic marker for warfarin dosage management from University of Washington
Osmetech plc announced that it has taken a worldwide non-exclusive license from the University of Washington (UW) to vitamin K Epoxide Reductase (VKOR) gene polymorphisms. This gene is a key diagnostic marker for the management of Warfarin dosage. Financial details are not disclosed.
This license is the latest in a series of licenses entered into by Osmetech for commercialization of FDA cleared IVD products on its eSensor® electrochemicalbased array platform. Last year Osmetech secured FDA approval for and launched a Cystic Fibrosis Carrier Detection (CFCD) kit and instrument and now seeks to add an FDA cleared warfarin assay in 2007.
Warfarin is an anti-clotting drug widely used for the treatment and prevention of thromboembolic events. In the U.S. there are approximately 30 million prescriptions for warfarin annually and 3 million new patients who suffer from a heart attack or stroke each year. These adverse reactions are due to the fact that the optimal dose of wartarin varies among patients which leads to incorrect starting dosage 20% of the time.
A genetic based warfarin test shall help to reduce the 85,000 severe bleeding events and 17,000 strokes annually. The FDA is in the process of recommending the relabelling of warfarin and expects to complete the process later this year based on panel reports and studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of genetic (CYP2C9/VKORC1) testing.
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