Pharmacogenetic testing: current evidence of clinical utility

Over the last decade, the number of clinical pharmacogenetic tests has steadily increased as understanding of the role of genes in drug response has grown. However, uptake of these tests has been slow, due in large part to the lack of robust evidence demonstrating clinical utility. We review the evidence behind four pharmacogenetic tests and discuss the barriers and facilitators to uptake: (1) warfarin (drug safety and efficacy); (2) clopidogrel (drug efficacy); (3) codeine (drug safety and efficacy); and (4) abacavir (drug safety). Future efforts should be directed toward addressing these issues and considering additional approaches to generating evidence basis to support clinical use of pharmacogenetic tests.