From the LaunchPad

One day following the Personal Genome Service Pharmacogenetic Reports (PGSPR) approval release, on Thursday, November 1, 2018, Jeffrey Shuren, M.D., J.D. (the Director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health), together with Janet Woodcock, M.D., (the Director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research) published a statement to warn “consumers about genetic tests that claim to predict patient’s responses to specific medications.”  This statement specifically calls out tests…

What Are User Comprehension Studies and Why are they Required by the FDA?

Unlike tests that are overseen by health care professionals where a conversation may take place about the meaning of results, direct-to-consumer tests bypass the traditional patient-doctor relationship and deliver results directly to patients (or consumers).  A well-known example of a direct-to-consumer test is a pregnancy test that one may purchase at any pharmacy or similar retail store…

While many of us were heading out to dish out candy (or tricks) to local goblins and superheroes this past Halloween, the FDA rounded out their suite of De Novo reclassification orders on DTC genetic testing.  The latest announcement adds Personal Genome Service Pharmacogenetic Reports (PGSPR) to the existing regulations for Carrier Screening and Genetic Health Risk (GHR) tests (including a specific case of Genetic Health Risk Report for BRCA1/BRCA2)…