Clopidogrel Pharmacogenetics - Why the Wait?

More than 3 million people annually in the United States receive prescriptions for the antiplatelet drug clopidogrel after stenting for acute coronary syndrome.(1) Although genetic variants that are present in a minority of patients of European ancestry and that predict variable clopidogrel response were identified more than a decade ago, genotype-guided prescribing is not routine, in part owing to uncertain benefits of this approach as compared with universal use of newer agents. In this issue of the Journal, Claassens et al.(2) report the results of the CYP2C19 Genotype-Guided Antiplatelet Therapy in ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Patients - Patient Outcome after . . .