Using pharmacogenomics to prescribe across ethnicities

In recent years, there has been much excitement surrounding genomic medicine and its current implications for precision medicine, in which treatments are tailored to an individual's genetic profile (Mendes, 2019; NHS Race and Health Observatory, 2024a).

Pharmacogenomics in particular combines pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and genetics to explore the way a person's individual genetic mak-eup affects their response to medication (Davies, 2024) and using genetic testing to guide drug choice and dosing (Gray, 2024).

Pharmacogenomics is, therefore, an important tool in determining which medicine to prescribe based not only on a person's symptoms and condition, but also after consideration of the likelihood of success based on the chances of an adverse reaction and the person's ability to metabolise effectively and at an appropriate rate, determined by an assessment of their individual genes.

It is essential that the research carried out to test genetic variants includes a wide range of people from across ethnic backgrounds and geographical locations to ensure all of the appropriate variants are identified and tested for in pharmacogenomic prescribing. While this need is now becoming clear, the research initially carried out as a foundation for this area of prescribing was limited by a narrow focus on patients of European ancestry.