Toronto, ON (July 28, 2022) — Ontario Pharmacists Association (OPA), a leading advocacy and professional development provider for pharmacy professionals, and Inagene Diagnostics Inc., pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing provider, launched a learning series for pharmacy professionals. Titled Pharmacogenetics: The Future of Patient Care, the series outlines the benefits of pharmacogenetic testing and how pharmacy professionals can incorporate this form of precision medicine into pharmacy practice. PGx testing provides individualized, actionable data as to how one’s genetic factors affect their response to certain medications and guides treatment decisions to optimize medication efficacy and minimize potential adverse reactions.
“Inagene is thrilled to have joined forces with OPA to provide learning resources and insights into the role of pharmacogenetics in patient care,” said Neelam Bance Parsons, Director of Marketing and Business Development at Inagene. “The unique skills and leadership of pharmacy professionals can help improve patient-centered healthcare with the use of pharmacogenetics, an emerging and innovative clinical decision support tool.”
Pharmacogenetics: The Future of Patient Care includes a landing page where pharmacy professionals can learn more about PGx and discover resources including three live webinars led by experts in the field. Micheline Piquette-Miller, Professor, Associate Dean, and Researcher at the University of Toronto’s Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy will lead the first session on August 9th. The complimentary webinar will outline key principles of PGx and provide guidance on how to implement testing services into clinical pharmacy practice.
“OPA is committed to helping pharmacy professionals expand their professional development and knowledge, so we are excited to partner with an industry leader like Inagene,” said Jen Belcher, Vice-President of Strategic Initiatives & Member Relations at OPA. “Pharmacy teams are the healthcare lead on medication management and pharmacogenetic testing is a valuable tool that can be applied to help patients get the best possible outcomes from their drug therapy.”
More than 90% of people possess DNA variants that could affect their response to medications. PGx testing confirms which of those genetic variants a person may carry, and which medications and doses are likely to have altered efficacy or cause enhanced adverse effects. As medication experts, pharmacy professionals can use PGx testing to explain previous treatment outcomes, inform future drug selection and counsel patients so that they are aware of how their genetic makeup may affect treatment. Through this learning series, OPA is helping pharmacy professionals expand their knowledge by providing innovative approaches to pharmacy practice and patient care.
To learn more about the learning series, Pharmacogenetics: The Future of Patient Care visit, opatoday.com/pharmacogenetics.
ABOUT ONTARIO PHARMACISTS ASSOCIATION
The Ontario Pharmacists Association (OPA) is committed to evolving the pharmacy profession and advocating for excellence in practice and patient care. With more than 10,000 members, OPA is Canada’s largest advocacy organization, professional development and drug information provider for pharmacy professionals across Ontario. By leveraging the unique expertise of pharmacy professionals, enabling them to practice to their fullest potential, and making them more accessible to patients, OPA is working to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the healthcare system. The pharmacy sector plays a strong role in Ontario with an economic impact of more than $6.3 billion across 4,600 pharmacies, employing 60,000 Ontarians. For more information on OPA, visit opatoday.com.
ABOUT INAGENE DIAGNOSTICS INC.
Inagene™ Diagnostics Inc. is a CLIA accredited Canadian pharmacogenetic testing company located in Toronto. Inagene’s Personalized Insights™ tests focus on providing comprehensive and reliable genetic tests to guide drug selection and treatment. Learn more at www.inagene.com.
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