Tm Bioscience to Supply Tag-It™ Reagents for Personalized Medicine Study

Tm Bioscience Corporation has announced that its Tag-It™ reagents for P450-2C9 and VKORC1 will be used in a prospective clinical study of patients using warfarin, a widely used blood thinner initially marketed as Coumadin®.

The collaborative study between Medco Health Solutions, Inc. and Mayo Collaborative Services, Inc. will jointly evaluate the potential of genetic testing improving patient safety and care by reducing adverse drug reactions.

"Each year, approximately two million people in the United States begin therapy with warfarin to prevent blood clots, however, as many as one in five will suffer adverse events from mild to severe bleeding. Genetic testing can provide valuable information about the rate at which patients will metabolize the drug, helping physicians prescribe the most appropriate dose of the medication for a particular patient," said Dr. Thomas Moyer, Medical Director for Mayo Collaborative Services and the co-Primary Investigator for the trial.

Medco and Mayo will evaluate the genetic test results from more than 1,000 patients taking warfarin. The program is scheduled to begin enrolling patients in the first quarter of 2007 and be complete by the end of that year.

"Companion testing for warfarin represents a significant near-term opportunity within our pharmacogenetic test franchise," said Mr. Greg Hines, President and CEO of Tm Bioscience.

"We anticipate this study will highlight the enormous potential for genetic testing to assist physicians in improving outcomes for their patients," said Hines.