Nine in ten patients had ‘clinically relevant’ genetic variation in pharmacogenomics pilot
A pilot study in England found that nearly 10% of patients possess genetic variations requiring immediate medication changes, while 25% of participants overall had their prescriptions adjusted. Experts suggest that pharmacogenomics will become a standard part of routine healthcare by 2035.
Why it matters
The integration of genomic testing into primary care represents a significant shift toward personalized medicine, potentially improving drug efficacy and safety.
One in ten patients (9.8%) had a genetic variation that warranted a “red flag” warning to switch treatment of a prescribed medicine, a national pharmacogenomics pilot in England has found.
In addition, one in four patients overall had a medicine change as a result of the testing, as part of the NHS England PROGRESS pilot scheme for pharmacogenomic guided prescribing in primary care.
The PROGRESS trial began in June 2023, initially across ten practices in north-west England, then expanding across England in February 2025.
Vicky Chaplin, senior clinical lead for the genomics unit at NHS England, told the British Oncology Pharmacy Association annual conference, held in London on 2 October 2026, that the PROGRESS scheme involved more than 1,325 patients in total who were started on a new medicine — the majority being prescribed a statin or a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI).
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