KPMG’s, CLS and Thermo Fisher Scientific to Collaborate on Links Between Medications and Genes

KPMG’s Clinical Intelligence (KCI) platform is helping clinicians improve the quality of care by furnishing them with pharmacogenomics data information about how genes interact with medicines from Coriell Life Sciences (CLS), supported by Thermo Fisher Scientific’s leading genetic analysis platform and content.

“CLS and Thermo Fisher are bringing the latest in personalized medicine to help prescribers make better choices in patient care by improving safety and quality with the help of KPMG’s healthcare analytics platform,” said Larry Burnett, advisory principal at KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm. “This program quickly makes biomarker information available for doctors and nurses to help avoid drug-gene, drug-drug, or drug-disease interactions.”

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“Pharmacy safety is one of the earliest areas where genetics has been shown to improve the quality of healthcare,” said Scott Megill, CEO and President of Coriell Life Sciences. “The collaboration between KPMG and CLS will allow us to bring this powerful new science, combined with robust data analytics and healthcare optimization made possible through the use of Thermo Fisher’s leading genetic analysis and next-generation sequencing technologies, to large population clients around the world.”

Clinicians will use CLS’ industry-leading Enterprise PGx (EPGx) program with data from Thermo Fisher platforms and trained pharmacists will assess genetic-based risks associated with a patient’s medicines. EPGx leverages genetic information with traditional medication therapy management that alerts prescribers to risks and provides medication options that can improve safety and efficacy. The results are included in the patient’s electronic health record. KPMG’s Care Continuum Optimization, a program under KCI that aims to reduce the variability of treatment, can put information in clinicians’ hands to help them develop a treatment plan aimed at improving quality measures. The data gathered also has utility for population health management and managed healthcare organizations.

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Pharmacogenomics background

Pharmacogenomics can play an important role in identifying how patients may respond to certain medicines and those at risk for adverse drug events. Many of the genes that have an impact on drug metabolism govern liver enzymes. More than 250 drugs have pharmacogenomic references in their FDA approved labels, including widely used pain relievers, cancer treatments, antidepressants and blood thinners.

Microsoft Azure foundation

KCI, which runs on Microsoft’s cloud-based Azure platform, will use pharmacogenomic data as a cohort to help healthcare providers manage clinical variation, offering greater insights into the quality of care delivery through Care Continuum Optimization. KPMG’s alliance with Microsoft enables the firm to deliver a cloud-based environment to meet the security needs of providers, payers and life sciences organizations with cost, claims, clinical, administrative, census and quality data sets to give real-time insights for client needs.

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