AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 17, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Luminex
Corporation (Nasdaq:
LMNX), today announced that it has commercially launched its
first pharmacogenetic test, the xTAG® CYP2D6 Kit, which
recently received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA). The new test enables a personalized medicine
approach to help physicians manage patients for whom they may
prescribe certain drugs that are metabolized by the enzyme
cytochrome P450 2D6.

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“The xTAG CYP2D6 Kit will be an important tool in the
fast-growing field of personalized medicine,” said Patrick J.
Balthrop, president and CEO of Luminex. “The first innovation in
CYP2D6 diagnostics in five years, it combines the power of
multiplexing with the promise of pharmacogenetics. The information
it provides has significant potential to help doctors improve care
by assisting them in determining the best therapeutic strategy for
an individual patient.”

CYP2D6 is an enzyme that is involved in the metabolism of
approximately one quarter of all prescription drugs, including
betablockers, opiates, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
(SSRIs), tricylic antidepressants (TCAs), neuroleptics and
antiarrhythmics. People may carry a slow- or fast–acting form
of the enzyme while others have a non-functional version of the
CYP2D6 gene, or allele, which can affect how an individual’s body
responds to these therapies.

The xTAG CYP2D6 Kit helps identify individuals who possess both
common and rare CYP2D6 poor-metabolizer variants. Abnormal
metabolizers are more likely to experience adverse drug
reaction

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