Albertsons collaborates with personalized medicine platform provider

5/29/2018
Personalized medicine platform provider Genomind has entered into a partnership with Albertsons to allow pharmacy patients at select Albertsons, Jewel-Osco and Acme supermarkets who are dealing with mental health issues to voluntarily receive free education about how genetic testing may be able to help them get better faster.

Genomind's Genecept Assay is a genetic test designed to help clinicians optimize treatment decisions for their patients dealing with mental health issues.

The participating locations are:

  • 21 Sav-On pharmacies at Albertsons in Boise, Idaho and nearby communities;

  • 5 Jewel-Osco pharmacies at Jewel-Osco in the Chicago area; and

  • 2 Sav-On pharmacies at Acme in the Philadelphia area.


"We are excited to bring this opportunity to educate our patients about how genetic testing may be able to help them get better faster as they face mental health challenges. We have reviewed the Genecept Assay from Genomind and feel confident about how its platform can enable an individualized approach to treatment," said Mark Panzer, Albertsons’ senior vice president of Pharmacy, Health & Wellness.

At the select locations, specially trained pharmacists may decide to counsel a patient if they see a pattern of the patient having unsuccessful experiences with a medicine prescribed for depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder or other mental illnesses. For instance, up to half of all patients respond poorly to the first psychiatric medicine they try because everyone's body is different, partially based upon on their individual genetic makeup.

The pharmacist, if the patient agrees, would then contact the treating clinician and suggest the Genecept Assay. The Assay identifies patient-specific genetic markers that indicate which treatments are likely to work as intended, have no effect or cause adverse effects.

The pharmacist would be able to administer the test in a private area of the pharmacy; it involves collecting a small amount of saliva from the patient's mouth with a cheek swab.

The pharmacist would review the results of the genetic test with the patient after it is returned from Genomind's CLIA-certified lab. The clinician also would receive the test and could use it to help guide treatment decisions.

The Genecept Assay covers more than 20 drug classes, 122 medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 18 clinically validated genes and 97 percent of medications used to treat depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, attention-deficit disorder and autism. It also offers comprehensive coverage of pain medications.
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