A call for pharmacogenovigilance and rapid falsification in the age of big data: why not first road test your biomarker?

Harnessing Knowledge on Very Important Pharmacogenes CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 Variation for Precision Medicine in Resource-Limited Global Conflict Zones

Pharmacogenomics harnesses the utility of a patient's genome (n = 1) in decisions on which therapeutic drugs and in what amounts should be administered. Often, patients with shared ancestry present with comparable genetic profiles that predict drug response. However, populations are not static, thus, often, population mobility through migration, especially enmasse as is seen for refugees, changes the pharmacogenetic profiles of resultant populations and therefore observed responses to commonly used therapeutic drugs. For example, in the aftermath of the Syrian civil war since 2011, millions have fled their homes to neighboring countries in the Middle East. The growing permanence of refugees and mass migrations is a call to shift our focus in the life sciences community from old models of pharmaceutical innovation. These seismic social changes demand faster decisions for "population-to-population bridging," whereby novel drugs developed in or for particular regions/countries can meet with rational regulatory decisions/approval in world regions impacted by migrant/refugee populations whose profiles are dynamic, such as in the Eastern Mediterranean region at present. Thus, it is important to characterize and report on the prevalence of pharmacogenes that affect commonly used medications and predict if population changes may call for attention to particular differences that may impact health of patients. Thus, we report here on four single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variations in CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 genes among Mersin-Turkish healthy volunteers in the Mersin Province in the Eastern Mediterranean region that is currently hosting a vast number of migrant populations from Syria. Both CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 are very important pharmacogene molecular targets. We compare and report here on the observed SNP genetic variation in our sample with data on 12 world populations from dbSNP and discuss the feasibility of forecasting the pharmacokinetics of drugs utilized by migrant communities in Mersin and the Eastern Mediterranean region. This study can serve as a catalyst to invest in research in Syrian populations currently living in the Eastern Mediterranean. The findings have salience for rapid and rational regulatory decision-making for worldwide precision medicine and, specifically, "pharmacogenovigilance-guided bridging of pharmacokinetics" across world populations in the current era of planetary scale migration.

Early Stage Health Technology Assessment for Precision Biomarkers in Oral Health and Systems Medicine

Health technology assessment (HTA) is a crucial science that influences the responsible and evidence-based transition of new discoveries from laboratory to applications in the clinic and society. HTA has recently moved "upstream" so as to assess technologies from their onset at their discovery, design, or planning phase. Biomarker research is relatively recent in oral health, but growing rapidly with investments made to advance dentistry and oral health and importantly, to build effective bridges between oral health and systems medicine since what happens in oral health affects systems pathophysiology, and vice versa. This article offers a synthesis of the latest trends and approaches in early phase HTA, with a view to near future applications in oral health, systems medicine, and biomarker-guided precision medicine. In brief, this review underscores that demonstrating health outcomes of biomarkers and next-generation diagnostics is particularly challenging because they do not always influence long-term outcomes directly, but rather impact subsequent care processes. Biomarker testing costs are typically less of a barrier to uptake in practice than the biomarker's impact on longer term health outcomes. As a single biomarker or next-generation diagnostic in oral health can inform decisions about numerous downstream diagnosis-treatment combinations, early stage "upstream" HTA is crucial in prioritizing the most valuable diagnostic applications to pursue first. For the vast array of oral health biomarkers currently developed, early HTA is necessary to timely and iteratively assess their comparative effectiveness and anticipate the inevitable questions about value for money from regulators and payers.

Adherence to Antipsychotic Medication in Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenic Patients: A Systematic Review

Antipsychotics are the drugs prescribed to treat psychotic disorders; however, patients often fail to adhere to their treatment, and this has a severe negative effect on prognosis in these kinds of illnesses. Among the wide range of risk factors for treatment nonadherence, this systematic review covers those that are most important from the point of view of clinicians and patients and proposes guidelines for addressing them. Analyzing 38 studies conducted in a total of 51,796 patients, including patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and bipolar disorder, we found that younger age, substance abuse, poor insight, cognitive impairments, low level of education, minority ethnicity, poor therapeutic alliance, experience of barriers to care, high intensity of delusional symptoms and suspiciousness, and low socioeconomic status are the main risk factors for medication nonadherence in both types of disorder. In the future, prospective studies should be conducted on the use of personalized patient-tailored treatments, taking into account risk factors that may affect each individual, to assess the ability of such approaches to improve adherence and hence prognosis in these patients.

An Appeal to the Global Health Community for a Tripartite Innovation: An "Essential Diagnostics List," "Health in All Policies," and "See-Through 21(st) Century Science and Ethics"

Diagnostics spanning a wide range of new biotechnologies, including proteomics, metabolomics, and nanotechnology, are emerging as companion tests to innovative medicines. In this Opinion, we present the rationale for promulgating an "Essential Diagnostics List." Additionally, we explain the ways in which adopting a vision for "Health in All Policies" could link essential diagnostics with robust and timely societal outcomes such as sustainable development, human rights, gender parity, and alleviation of poverty. We do so in three ways. First, we propose the need for a new, "see through" taxonomy for knowledge-based innovation as we transition from the material industries (e.g., textiles, plastic, cement, glass) dominant in the 20(th) century to the anticipated knowledge industry of the 21st century. If knowledge is the currency of the present century, then it is sensible to adopt an approach that thoroughly examines scientific knowledge, starting with the production aims, methods, quality, distribution, access, and the ends it purports to serve. Second, we explain that this knowledge trajectory focus on innovation is crucial and applicable across all sectors, including public, private, or public-private partnerships, as it underscores the fact that scientific knowledge is a co-product of technology, human values, and social systems. By making the value systems embedded in scientific design and knowledge co-production transparent, we all stand to benefit from sustainable and transparent science. Third, we appeal to the global health community to consider the necessary qualities of good governance for 21st century organizations that will embark on developing essential diagnostics. These have importance not only for science and knowledge-based innovation, but also for the ways in which we can build open, healthy, and peaceful civil societies today and for future generations.