Genaissance Reaches Milestone in CARING Study
Wednesday September 17, 7:30 am ET
- Study to Examine the Role of DNA Variation in Clozapine Safety -
NEW HAVEN, Conn., Sept. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: GNSC - News) today announced that it has reached enrollment goals in order to initiate HAP(TM) Marker discovery in its Clozapine and Agranulocytosis Relationships Investigated by Genetics (CARING) study. The CARING study will utilize Genaissance's HAP(TM) Technology and expertise to examine patients who develop white cell depletion (agranulocytosis) in response to clozapine treatment. DNA from these patients will be studied to determine whether genetic commonalities exist that would help predict similar occurrences of clozapine-induced agranulocytosis in other patients. Initial results from the study are expected in 2004.
"Clozapine has long been accepted as one of the most effective medicines for treating schizophrenia but has had limited utilization due to the risk of inducing agranulocytosis," said John Kane, M.D., Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Zucker Hillside Hospital, Professor of Psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and co-Chair of the CARING Steering Committee. "Currently, physicians who prescribe clozapine must submit blood monitoring information for each patient to a central registry for the duration of treatment. If a genetic test could be used to predict agranulocytosis, perhaps the need for frequent blood testing could be minimized."
"The goal of this study is to find genetic markers that can predict individuals who will develop this life-threatening complication as a result of being treated with clozapine," added Carol R. Reed, M.D., Vice President of Medical Affairs for Genaissance. "If these markers are identified, we believe they will not only benefit schizophrenia patients, but they will also pioneer a new approach to how safety is assessed in new and existing medicines." |
