Pharmacogenetics (PGx) testing at Firmalab Bio-Diagnostics is at the forefront of personalized medicine, offering insights into how genetic variations affect individual responses to medications. Our comprehensive PGx panels help healthcare providers tailor drug therapies to maximize efficacy and minimize adverse effects, ensuring optimal patient outcomes. We offer five distinct pharmacogenetics panels: Cardiovascular, Pain Management, Oncology, Psychotropic, and Comprehensive.
Pharmacogenetics (PGx) combines the disciplines of pharmacology (the study of the uses and effects of medication) and genomics (the study of genes and their function) to evaluate the relationship between your genetic makeup and your prescribed medication. PGx testing unravels the codes embedded in your DNA that determine how one may metabolize or respond to certain drugs. By obtaining insight into a patient’s genetic makeup, physicians and health care providers can choose the medication and dosage that are likely to work best for the individual patient with the least side effect or harm.
Pharmacogenetics (PGx) studies how genetic variations influence individual responses to medications. Although the same medication can be prescribed to many patients with the same diagnosis, patients often experience different side effects and responses due to genetic differences. These variations affect how the body metabolizes drugs, with enzymes playing a key role in the breakdown of medications. Our genes encode enzymes that help metabolize drugs in the liver, and variations in these genes can influence whether a patient is a fast, normal, or slow metabolizer. For example, poor metabolizers may experience toxic drug buildup, while fast metabolizers may have subtherapeutic effects or rapid therapeutic response.
PGx testing examines genes that affect drug metabolism, transport, and receptor interaction, helping healthcare providers tailor medication plans to avoid adverse effects and optimize treatment. Over the past 20 years, advances in genomics have improved our understanding of how genetic factors impact drug responses, enabling more personalized and effective healthcare.
pgx by the numbers
These implementation metrics demonstrate the far-reaching impact of Firmalab’s PGx testing across healthcare systems. With 97.9% of patients carrying actionable variants, our comprehensive panel provides clinically relevant insights for nearly every patient tested. The dramatic reductions in readmissions (52%) and emergency visits (42%) translate directly to improved patient outcomes and significant cost savings. Perhaps most telling is our 94% provider satisfaction rate, reflecting the value healthcare professionals find in our clear, actionable results and comprehensive support system. Firmalab’s testing not only improves individual patient care but transforms entire healthcare systems’s approach to medication management.
Clinical Implementation Outcomes
97.9%
Patients with Actionable Variants
Clinically Significant Findings
79.5%
PGx-Relevant Medications
Immediate Clinical Impact
52%
Reduction in Readmissions
vs. Standard Care
42%
Fewer Emergency Visits
Annual Reduction
$7,000
Average Patient Savings
Per Year
94%
Provider Satisfaction
Implementation Success
By avoiding the costs associated with ADRs and ineffective treatments, PGx testing offers a sustainable, cost-effective solution for healthcare systems, particularly for managing patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy. Patients undergoing PGx-guided therapy experienced a mean savings of $1,132 over 16 weeks due to reduced hospitalizations and fewer interventions.
$1,132
Mean savings per patient over 16 weeks
Cost reduction breakdown:
Source: Brixner et al., 2016
ADRs are responsible for approximately 5-10% of all hospital admissions. with higher rates in patients on complex medication regimens. Found that preemptive PGx testing could prevent ADRs by identifying patients at risk for severe drug reactions before prescribing, leading to a significant reduction in hospital admissions and emergency department visits. This proactive approach to medication management not only enhances patient safety but also reduces the burden on healthcare systems. The economic impact of ADRs is substantial, with estimates suggesting that preventable ADRs cost the U.S. healthcare system billions of dollars annually. PGx testing could result in significant cost savings by preventing ADRs and optimizing medication therapy.
ADR impact by patient group:
Source: Chenchula et al., 2024
5 multi-gene variation panels allow for various specialists to adopt PGx testing and customize drug therapies based on an individual’s genetic profile. Specialty based personalized medicine with PGx panels provide the following benefits:
When ordering Firmalab’s PGx kit, you will receive a self-collection sample kit with the following four component
1
A simple saliva swab is collected from the patient
2
The sample is analyzed in our state-of-the art laboratory to identify genetic variations affecting drug metabolism and response.
3
A detailed report is generated, outlining the genetc fndings and their implicatons for drug therapy.
4
Healthcare providers use the report to guide drug selecton and dosing, ensuring personalized and efectve treatment.
Patents or healthcare providers will be given a detailed PGxgenetic variation report that include the following sections:
A positive result indicates the presence of variants in the targeted genes. Classificaton can be done as:
A negative result indicates the absence of variants in the targeted genes.
PGx (Pharmacogenetics) testing has revolutionized medicine by using genetic information to determine how medications work for individuals, including potential side effects and overall responses. This personalized approach is a key component of precision medicine, which customizes healthcare to the individual rather than following a one-size-fits-all model.
As genetic testing advances, precision medicine has gained wider adoption, helping physicians create specialized treatment plans. Currently, over 140,000 genetic tests are used to guide clinical decisions. By combining clinical and genetic data, precision medicine improves health outcomes, enabling earlier diagnoses and better prognoses for chronic diseases. Unlike traditional symptom-driven medicine, precision medicine recognizes that patients may respond differently to treatments.
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A detailed summary of the medications the patient was taking at the time of sample collection, along with a comprehensive explanation of their pharmacogenetic test results. It includes an in-depth analysis of how the patient’s genetic makeup may influence the efficacy and safety of each medication and offers tailored
recommendations to optimize their treatment plan based on the latest evidence and guidelines.
A detailed overview of how the tested genetic markers may influence the most commonly prescribed medications, offering critical insights into potential variations in drug efficacy, metabolism, and safety for individual patients. Clinicians can easily pinpoint the therapeutic category of interest and review the genetic impact on specific drugs, conveniently organized by both their brand and generic names. This allows for a comprehensive evaluation of how genetics may affect patient responses to prescribed treatments.
This section provides a comprehensive overview of the patient’s genetic information by displaying their genotype and phenotype for each of the genes analyzed. It highlights the specific genetic variations tested and explains how these variations may influence medication response, enabling healthcare providers to make well-informed, tailored treatment decisions based on the patient’s unique genetic profile.
Looks at each gene separately and explains how the genotype and phenotype may impact drug response. For each tested gene, the report shows how the phenotype impacts drugs, along with a list of the most commonly prescribed drugs affected by each gene.