Personalised dosing technology shows promise for transplant patients

Immunosuppressant drugs used after organ transplants typically have narrow therapeutic windows, making it difficult to optimise dosage. 

Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, have developed a personalised medicine platform that uses algebraic equations and clinical data, such as blood drug concentrations and doses of other medications, to identify the ideal dose for specific patients. 

In a study published in Science Translational Medicine (online, 6 April 2016)^[1]
, they trialled their platform in four randomised patients receiving tacrolimus after liver transplant. They found that patients’ trough tacrolimus levels stayed within target range and, compared with four control patients managed with standard dosing, these patients experienced less variability in their tacrolimus dose. 

The team say that, with further development, the platform could have many other applications outside of transplant medicine, such as in cancer and infectious diseases.