UK NHS-Area Study Launches Genetic Testing To Personalise Medication

Genetic testing is increasingly being integrated into healthcare to personalize treatments and improve disease prevention. Genomics, a UK-based company, has launched its Health Insights test, the first in Great Britain registered with the MHRA and carrying the UKCA mark, which uses polygenic risk scores to predict susceptibility to diseases from a single saliva sample. Meanwhile, the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area is conducting the Phoenix Study, a landmark trial examining how genetic profiles affect patient responses to 60 common medications, aiming to make pharmacogenomics routine in clinical practice. This trial will help tailor prescribing across various medical specialties and is expected to identify genetic variants that influence drug effectiveness or risk of side effects in about 15% of patients. On the policy side, the US Department of Justice has increased scrutiny on pharma-sponsored genetic testing programs for rare diseases to ensure compliance with laws against improper marketing practices. Together, these developments highlight the growing role and regulatory considerations of genetic testing in precision medicine globally.