The science of understanding the correlation between an individual patient’s genetic make-up (genotype) and their response to drug treatment. Some drugs work well in some patient populations and not as well in others. Studying the genetic basis of patient response to therapeutics allows drug developers to more effectively design therapeutic treatments.
Source: Human Genome Project Information
No drug works well for all patients. Genetic differences among patients are believed to account for variations in drug responses. While genomics is opening the way to personalized, predictive and preventive medicine, pharmacogenomics uses a patient’s genetic information to predict individual responses to medication. This is important, since adverse drug reactions can have serious consequences.
For more information: Pharmacogenomics Centre – Une division de l’Institut de Cardiologie de Montréal
Here is a short video to understand this application :