image credit- freepik
US-based Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, has announced the launch of the TacroType™ Pharmacogenetic Test, a new laboratory developed test designed to help inform clinicians on dosing tacrolimus, a commonly prescribed immunosuppressive drug for transplant recipients to lower the risk of rejection.
For transplant recipients, finding the right tacrolimus dose as early as possible can be life-changing. If the dose is too low, the body may reject the new organ. If it is too high, patients face increased risks of injury, infection and other serious complications. Yet patients process tacrolimus differently based in part on their genetics, making standard dosing approaches difficult and often leading to repeated adjustments during the most vulnerable period after transplant.
Thermo Fisher’s new TacroType Pharmacogenetic Test provides genetic insights that can help clinicians better understand how an individual patient is likely to metabolise tacrolimus—supporting more informed dosing decisions from the start and helping reduce the trial-and-error approach that many patients experience today.
The new test addresses this challenge by providing clinicians with actionable genetic insights that can support more personalized tacrolimus dosing decisions. Using a simple buccal swab sample, the test identifies a patient’s CYP3A5 genotype, which influences how quickly tacrolimus is metabolized and how a patient may respond to therapy.
The test has not been cleared or approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or CE marked in the EU as an in vitro diagnostic test.
