The funding will be shared by six teams researching pharmacogenetics - which looks at how a patient's genetic makeup can affect the way they respond to different drugs.
It is hoped that doctors will eventually be able to use information about a patient's genes to predict how they might respond to different medicines and then tailor treatments to suit their individual needs.
The winning bids include projects on how genetics could affect responses to drugs used to prevent blood clots and treat epilepsy. Another project aims to develop a screening test to identify patients who are at high risk of having a fatal reaction to general anaesthetic.
Health Minister Lord Warner said:
"Whilst research in this area is still in its early stages, pharmacogenetics has enormous potential to improve the effectiveness of the treatment that patients receive, and more importantly could save lives by identifying those patients who, because of their genetic make-up, are likely to react badly to certain medicines."
The funding is part of a 50m strategy announced in last year's Genetics White Paper to make sure that NHS patients get the full benefit of the latest developments in genetic knowledge.
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Associate Professor John Mulley, lead geneticist on the study, Head of Epilepsy Genetics at Bionomics and Head of Diagnostic Molecular Genetics at the Women ™s and Children ™s Hospital in Adelaide, said, There is already a recognized strong relationship between mutations in SCN1A and SMEI. Through this study we have been able to ascertain, with a certainty previously unavailable, the risk of developing SMEI in patients presenting with childhood epilepsy. The screening was particularly helpful in establishing the diagnosis of SMEI in children with severe epileptic encephalopathies with some but not all of the classical features of SMEI.
Dr Deborah Rathjen, Bionomics ™ CEO and Managing Director stated, The results of this clinical study support the usefulness of a gene based diagnostic for SMEI. It is anticipated that the SMEI test will be Bionomics ™ first diagnostic product to market with its use being clearly supported by this clinical data.
We already have one commercial partner for this test, US-based Nanogen Inc., and we envisage further commercial relationships which will maximize the returns to Bionomics from this diagnostic product through milestone payments and royalties on product sales. In this context it is pleasing to see that Bionomics, through this clinical study, has now achieved a milestone in its collaboration with Nanogen. Translation of key clinical and genetic data into tangible patient benefits is an important driver for our diagnostic product development program Dr Rathjen added.
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