Plavix®, a prescription drug that helps prevent and treat blood clots, is one of the world’s top-selling medications. According to its manufacturer, doctors have prescribed it to more than 100 million people.Yet, genetics shows, popularity doesn’t always mean that a drug works for everyone.

And when it comes to Plavix®, that fact has some scientists working to see how genetic testing can provide better answers for people who take this medication.

Some people, because of their genetic makeup, don’t process Plavix® as effectively as others, leaving them vulnerable to dangerous blood clotting problems. In March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revised the drug label on Plavix® (also known by its generic name clopidogrel), emphasizing that people who carry certain genetic variants may not benefit fully from the drug. The FDA announcement also stressed that testing is available for a gene linked to a reduced response to Plavix®.

Since the vast majority of people who’ve taken Plavix® have never undergone genetic testing, researchers are now analyzing the ways that genetic insights can help.

In one current study, scientists at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill are testing heart patients to see whether they carry the genetic trait linked to reduced Plavix® response. For those who carry the variant, the doctors will try doubling their dose of the drug.

At Navigenics, we recently launched a new Medications service, which provides personalized genetic information to help you understand which prescription drugs work best for you. Plavix® (using the genetic variant discussed by the FDA) is one of 12 medications analyzed in this feature of our service.

It’s important to know that learning your genetic makeup related to Plavix® isn’t enough. Only you and your doctor, working together, can use your genetic results to decide if the drug is right for you or what your dose should be. But as more becomes known about Plavix® and personal genetics, we’re looking forward to being part of the discussion. If you’ve got Plavix® or other Medications results from Navigenics, let us how they’ve worked for you.

At Navigenics, our personal genetic results focus on health. Our genetic testing services only cover common, important health concerns that you can do something about.

And to help our members turn their personal genetic information into better health, we work closely with a wide range of healthcare organizations and professionals. Our team of board-certified genetic counselors is available to help our members make the most of their genetic results. And we partner with many other healthcare researchers and providers.

One of our collaborators includes the Toronto-based Medcan Clinic. Medcan offers the Navigenics Health Compass to its members, and pairs the results with support and expertise from a Medcan genetic counselor, who helps further personalize and interpret each patient’s genetic information. This week, Medcan’s Director of Genetics, Jill Davies, blogged about her experience with incorporating personal genomic results into patient care.

Here’s a highlight from her very interesting post, written for The DNA Exchange, a blog authored by genetic counselors:

“My experience was definitely telling me that people wanted more than just a family history review.  So why not combine family history, with personal genome testing technology?  Better yet, why not offer pre- and post-test genetic counseling sessions too?  This way, individuals have the opportunity to learn about the test in advance (risks, benefits, limitations, insurance issues) and also have a qualified professional to walk through the results and help interpret those results in the context of the family and medical history.”

We also have to admit that we appreciated the mention of how Medcan chose Navigenics over our competitors ("only one company had figured out the right formula") and some kind words for our genetic results ("For those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to see a full Navigenics patient report, I encourage you to try to get your hands on one – its good!").

If you’d like to see an example of our results, view our online demo. Or, if you have questions or want more information, please contact our Member Service team at

Today, Navigenics announced information about new financing and a new investor. You’ll find the official Navigenics press release below:

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Navigenics, a leading personal genomics company, announced today that the company has raised approximately $18 million of funding. The Procter and Gamble Company, with a worldwide portfolio of leading consumer brands, has joined existing Navigenics investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers and Mohr Davidow Ventures who also participated in this financing round.

“I welcome the partnership of Procter and Gamble. Their extraordinary track record of consumer understanding provides Navigenics with an unparalleled opportunity to understand and serve the needs of our customers,” said Vance Vanier, MD, Navigenics President and CEO. “When combined with their commitment to developing innovative consumer health and wellness products and an expanding focus on health services, P&G’s insight and brand will strengthen Navigenics’ position to embed personal genomics into the prevention dialogue of everyday health care.”

“Navigenics represents an exciting opportunity for future innovation for P&G,” said Nathan Estruth, Vice President of Procter & Gamble FutureWorks and Board member of MDVIP, a national network of primary care physicians focused on personalized, preventive care. MDVIP has initiated a collaborative effort with Navigenics, making their genetic test available as a service to MDVIP-affiliated physicians. “Based on their strong science and clinical foundation, Navigenics promises to change the shape of health care as we know it. Personalized genetic testing can have significant meaning in helping consumers focused on prevention and wellness live better, healthier lives – something that P&G has always been committed to.”

“This Series C financing will help ensure that Navigenics has the ability to continue our groundbreaking research into the impact of genomics on preventive health care, expand our clinical offerings into exciting new areas and lead the way in making personal genomics an integral part of employer-sponsored preventive health and wellness programs,” said Dr. Vanier.

Today, Navigenics made an important leadership announcement. Here is the text of the official press release:

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Navigenics, a leading personal genomics company, announced today that Vance Vanier, MD, has been appointed by the Board of Directors to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of the firm.

Dr. Vanier joined Navigenics as Chief Medical Officer in April of 2008 and has been instrumental in growing the company’s clinical offerings as well as institutional research and corporate partnerships. Prior to joining Navigenics, he was a partner at venture capital firm Mohr Davidow Ventures where he spent years in the molecular diagnostics industry bringing new genomic technologies into clinical practice. Vanier also serves as a clinical faculty member of Stanford University Medical Center.

“Navigenics has defined preventive genomics and its potential to enable prevention and motivate behavior change, and I look forward to leading the company as it continues to pioneer in this emerging industry,” said Dr. Vanier. “Interest in wellness and prevention is briskly increasing and I am confident that the company is well positioned for the opportunities that lay ahead.”

As the number one personalized genetic testing provider recommended by physicians, in the last year Navigenics has also become the personal genomics testing service of choice for corporate health programs. According to the management team, the company has a considerable pipeline of corporate accounts and has begun introducing preventive genomics-based health to increasing numbers of people through employer-based partnerships. To date, the company has successfully integrated into the health and wellness programs of large, self-insured employers by offering large scale preventive genomic programs in order to increase employee motivation to improve lifestyle, enhance participation in existing employee wellness offerings, and improve medical compliance.

“It was Vance’s vision that guided Navigenics into the physician and employer wellness markets, and he has been critical to Navigenics’ success over the past two years,” said Dana G. Mead, Jr., partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and member of Navigenics’ Board of Directors. “As the company evolves its corporate strategy, forging deeper relationships with physician groups and employer-sponsored health and wellness programs, Vance’s clinical experience and exceptional leadership make him a natural choice to lead the company.”

“Vance has displayed an impressive commitment to getting at the heart of one of the biggest obstacles to preventive healthcare – motivating people to engage in healthy lifestyles,” said Pam Hymel, M.D., Medical Director of Cisco Systems and President of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. “But when it is successful, we have seen that every dollar spent on prevention yields three dollars in benefits. I believe that any behavior change that Navigenics can accomplish is consequently very valuable.”

ABOUT NAVIGENICS

Navigenics, Inc. is a privately held company based in Foster City, Calif. The company was founded by David Agus, M.D. and Dietrich Stephan, Ph.D., with the goal of improving health outcomes in individuals across the population. Navigenics educates and empowers individuals and their physicians with knowledge of their genetic predispositions, and then motivates them to act on the information to prevent the onset of disease, achieve earlier diagnosis, appropriately manage disease, or otherwise lessen its impact. Navigenics’ lead investors are Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Sequoia Capital and MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures. More information can be found at http://www.navigenics.com.

Navigenics., a leading personal genomics company, announced today that the New York State Department of Health has issued Navigenics a clinical laboratory permit and approved the offering of the company’s Navigenics® Health Compass service to New York State residents.

The permit makes Navigenics the first personalized genomics service to be licensed as a clinical laboratory by the State of New York.

The permit, issued on December 7, gives Navigenics approval for its CLIA-certified clinical laboratory to process saliva samples originating in the State of New York for the purposes of genetic testing. The permit acknowledges that the State’s Clinical Laboratory Evaluation Program found the validation data for Navigenics’ test acceptable and clarifies the regulatory framework that Navigenics will operate under in New York moving forward. 

“As the primary institution responsible for ensuring quality oriented, accurate and reliable clinical laboratory testing for the citizens of New York State it is vital that we examine genetic testing services with the same scrutiny as other clinical tests,” said Michele Caggana, Sc.D., FACMG, Head of the Genetic Testing Section of the Clinical Laboratory Reference System. “Our priority is to ensure that New York residents whose physicians order services from Navigenics do so within the assurance of quality and technical reliability that our scrutiny provides, and we are satisfied that Navigenics has met the State’s requirements for approval.”

Navigenics has consistently been a leader in encouraging collaboration and dialogue with regulatory authorities – at both the state and federal levels – to ensure compliance and develop standards for the nascent industry’s innovative technologies and services.

“We are very proud of our collaborative interaction with the New York State Department of Health throughout this process,” said Douglas S. Harrington, M.D., Navigenics Laboratory Director. “The State’s licensing inspection program and regulatory framework are extremely rigorous. To be the first personal genomics service provider to receive approval is truly a testament to our best-in-class approach to the science, validation and clinical laboratory operations behind our individualized genetic testing.”

Navigenics’ genetic testing services will be made available to New York state residents later this year. For more information on the Navigenics service and New York orders, please contact Member Service by phone at (866) 522-1585 or by email at .

Planning to hit the local coffeehouse, or meet a friend for tea? Here’s another reason to reach for your favorite cup.

A large new scientific analysis of coffee and tea drinkers has found that these favorites—even the decaf versions – can help reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes.

The recent research, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that every additional cup of coffee each day was associated with a seven percent reduction in the excess risk of diabetes.

The more tea or coffee a person consumed, the more diabetes risk declined. Drinking three to four cups a day meant about a 25 percent reduced diabetes risk when compared with those who drank between none and two cups day.

Even decaf made a difference.

Those who drank three to four cups of decaf coffee each day had about a one-third lower risk than people who didn’t drink any. And tea drinkers who sipped more than three to four cups a day had about a one-fifth lower diabetes risk than non-tea drinkers. Researchers, further detailing their findings, noted that an ingredient other than caffeine, such as magnesium or plant-based antioxidant compounds, might give coffee and tea properties that reduce diabetes risk.

The study, a type of scientific inquiry called a meta-analysis, is especially interesting because of its breadth. The findings were compiled from 18 individual studies that included almost 458,000 people and spanned more than 40 years, giving the research a particularly comprehensive perspective. Earlier research had pointed to similar benefits from coffee and tea, but this meta-analysis gives them greater credibility. It’s also important to note, though, that coffee or tea can cause health problems for some people, so it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor before dramatically increasing your daily cup count.

Type 2 diabetes is one of the most common health problems in the United States – more than 25 percent of American adults will develop the condition over the course of their lifetime. At Navigenics, we include genetic predisposition for type 2 diabetes in our genetic testing service, as about 64 percent of a person’s risk is genetic.

But everyday choices, such as diet, also play a big role. Knowing your genetic predisposition can help guide those decisions. And when you are making a choice about what to drink, this research indicates, adding in coffee or tea may do more than get you going in the morning—it may give your health a boost as well.