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Projected Prevalence of Actionable Pharmacogenetic Variants and Level A Drugs Prescribed Among US Veterans Health Administration Pharmacy Users.

Chanfreau-Coffinier C, Hull LE, Lynch JA, DuVall SL, Damrauer SM, Cunningham FE, Voight BF, Matheny ME, Oslin DW, Icardi MS, Tuteja S. Projected Prevalence of Actionable Pharmacogenetic Variants and Level A Drugs Prescribed Among US Veterans Health Administration Pharmacy Users. JAMA Network Open. 2019 Jun 5; 2(6):e195345.

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Abstract:

Importance: Implementation of pharmacogenetic testing to guide drug prescribing has potential to improve drug response and prevent adverse events. Robust data exist for more than 30 gene-drug pairs linking genotype to drug response phenotypes; however, it is unclear which pharmacogenetic tests, if implemented, would provide the greatest utility for a given patient population. Objectives: To project the proportion of veterans in the US Veterans Health Administration (VHA) with actionable pharmacogenetic variants and evaluate how testing might be associated with prescribing decisions. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study included veterans who used national VHA pharmacy services from October 1, 2011, to September 30, 2017. Data analyses began April 26, 2018, and were completed February 6, 2019. Exposures: Receipt of level A drugs based on VHA pharmacy dispensing records. Main Outcomes and Measures: Projected prevalence of actionable pharmacogenetic variants among VHA pharmacy users based on variant frequencies from the 1000 Genomes Project and veteran demographic characteristics; incident number of level A prescriptions, and proportion of new level A drug recipients projected to carry an actionable pharmacogenetic variant. Results: During the study, 7?769?359 veterans (mean [SD] age, 58.1 [17.8] years; 7?021?504 [90.4%] men) used VHA pharmacy services. It was projected that 99% of VHA pharmacy users would carry at least 1 actionable pharmacogenetic variant. Among VHA pharmacy users, 4?259?153 (54.8%) received at least 1 level A drug with 1?188?124 (15.3%) receiving 2 drugs, and 912?189 (11.7%) receiving 3 or more drugs. The most common incident prescriptions during the study were tramadol (923?671 new recipients), simvastatin (533?928 new recipients), citalopram (266?952 new recipients), and warfarin (205?177 new recipients). Gene-drug interactions projected to have substantial clinical impacts in the VHA population include the interaction of SLCO1B1 with simvastatin (1?988?956 veterans [25.6%]), CYP2D6 with tramadol (318?544 veterans [4.1%]), and CYP2C9 or VKORC1 with warfarin (7?163?349 veterans [92.2%]). Conclusions and Relevance: Clinically important pharmacogenetic variants are highly prevalent in the VHA population. Almost all veterans would carry an actionable variant, and more than half of the population had been exposed to a drug affected by these variants. These results suggest that pharmacogenetic testing has the potential to affect pharmacotherapy decisions for commonly prescribed outpatient medications for many veterans.





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