Towards simplification of therapeutic drug monitoring with DOSINACO kit for anticoagulants.

Precision medicine improves safety and efficacy of therapies

Interview with Pablo Zubiaur Precioso, PhD, MPharm
Servicio de Farmacología Clínica, Hospital Universitario de La Princesa, Spain

The team led by Francisco Abad-Santos, PhD, MD at the University Hospital of Madrid focuses on Pharmacogenetics, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and precision medicine. TDM can be used, for example, to determine whether the dose applied is still within the therapeutic range. For its research, the lab team, led by Pablo Zubiaur, PhD, MPharm, uses DOSINACO, a reagent kit manufactured by Alsachim for quantifying anticoagulants in human plasma. We ask him to answer our questions about the use of the kit and what make DOSINACO so appealing. Dr. Zubiaur gives some insights in his work and the context of applying the kit. 

1. Can you outline the research you are conducting in your laboratory / Department? Why is it important?

With our research, we aim to advance precision medicine, that is procedures and drugs that apply individual biomarkers of patients to assess the benefits and risks of therapies. This includes pharmacogenetic studies as well as studies related to therapeutic drug monitoring. Both strategies, implemented in clinical practice, improve the safety and efficacy of therapies, the quality of life of patients and the sustainability of health systems.
I am responsible for coordinating the lab team consisting of clinical pharmacologists, laboratory technicians, predoctoral biotechnologists and several undergraduate students from different disciplines. (see picture below).

2. How DOSINACO helped you to solve / optimize your daily work?

We have promoted an observational study in which we aim to define the therapeutic range and pharmacogenetic markers of apixaban, dabigatran, rivaroxaban and edoxaban, that are anticoagulants. For this purpose, it is easier for us to carry out the analytical determinations with a commercial kit such as DOSINACO. According to our research, the kit is the only one of its kind on the market.

3. What are the trends / needs in your industry that led to the need to use our product? What are your expectations for LC-MS/MS drug quantification in the future?

Precision or personalized medicine is currently under development and will probably continue to expand in the upcoming years and decades. It is therefore expected that the number of labs that need to perform analytical determinations will increase. At least, in our case. LC-MS commercial kits mean a considerable time saving for labora-tories like ours, "small" and without dedicating 100% of their activities to analytical chemistry.

Team of Hospital Universitario de La Princesa.
Main field of study: Pharmacogenetics, therapeutic drug monitoring, precision medicine