Advantages
- No genetic testing required: Genetic polymorphism information is not needed for calculation.
- Adoption of a new index in the calculation algorithm that takes into account the amount of warfarin being taken, PT-INR value, patient background factors, etc., enables highly accurate calculation of warfarin dosage that needs to be strictly controlled.
- The system is expected to be used on mobile devices and can be used for management outside the hospital.
Technology Overview & Background
Warfarin is a medicine that exerts its anticoagulant effect by inhibiting vitamin K, which is involved in the production of blood coagulation factors in the liver, and is often used to prevent thrombosis, mainly in patients with atrial fibrillation and those with implanted artificial valves. Strict dosage control of warfarin is required because excessive dosage increases the risk of bleeding, while too little increases the risk of thrombosis. On the other hand, the dosage balance varies from person to person, and even within the same patient, the dosage may vary depending on diet and other factors, requiring routine blood coagulation test, which imposes a burden on both the healthcare professional and the patient. For this reason, a number of calculation formulas and automatic calculation programs have been proposed to predict and calculate warfarin dosage, including one that uses the patient’s genetic polymorphism information. However, these methods do not reflect external factors such as environmental factors and concomitant medications, and thus the accuracy of prediction is not sufficient.
Therefore, the researcher has developed a new prediction program to predict and calculate the optimal dosage of warfarin based on the above problems. This prediction program uses the amount of warfarin taken up to the day before the day of administration, the PT-INR value (Prothrombin Time-International Normalized Ratio), and parameters that take into account other factors based on patient background. The program is able to easily and accurately determine the optimal dose of warfarin on the day of administration so that the PT-INR value on the day following the day of administration falls within the target value range. Unlike conventional methods, this prediction program does not require any information on the subject’s various genetic test results, making it possible to make predictions easily based only on known patient information.
A specific application for use is envisioned for mobile terminals such as smartphones and tablet PCs, which would make the program not only practical in hospitals, but also easily usable outside of hospitals. Therefore, it is expected that the system can be used, for example, by pharmacists to provide medication guidance to patients, or by patients themselves (or their caregivers) to manage their own medication after discharge.
Patent(s)
A PCT patent application filed (unpublished).
Publication(s)
Currently in the pre-publication stage.
Principal Investigator & Academic Institution
Makiko MAEDA, PhD (Assoc. Professor, Osaka University, Japan)
Expectations
TECH MANAGE is now looking for companies to collaborate with the principal investigator and develop this technology further under the licensing of the related patent(s) described above. We can also arrange a direct meeting with the PI. In addition, we can provide unpublished data and know-how through the conclusion of a CDA with Osaka University. We can also set up options such as exclusive evaluation before licensing the invention, so please feel free to contact us.