EUropean Pharmacogenetics of AntiCoagulant Therapy - Warfarin

Rationale: The narrow therapeutic range and wide inter-patient variability in dose requirement make anticoagulation response to coumarin derivatives unpredictable. As a result, patients require frequent monitoring to avert adverse effects and maintain therapeutic efficacy. Polymorphisms in cytochrome P450 2C9 (CYP2C9) and vitamin K epoxide reductase complex 1 (VKORC1) jointly account for about 40% of the inter-individual variability in dose requirements. To date, several pharmacogenetic guided dosing algorithms for coumarin derivatives, predominately for warfarin, have been developed. However, the potential benefit of these dosing algorithms in terms of their safety and clinical utility has not been adequately investigated in randomised settings. Objective: To determine whether a dosing algorithm containing genetic information increases the time within therapeutic INR range during anticoagulation therapy with each of warfarin, acenocoumarol and phenprocoumon compared to a dosing regimen that does not contain this information. Secondary outcomes of the study include cost effectiveness, number of thromboembolic and bleeding events, time to reach stable dose and number of supratherapeutic INR peaks.