Glaxo Puts SNPs to Work

Executive Summary

Glaxo Wellcome was naturally disappointed that it had to withdraw troglitazone (Romozin), a new treatment for Type II diabetes, from the UK market in December 1997, just four months after launch. The problems with troglitazone only really started showing up once the drug came to market, and started being used in patient populations far larger than those assembled for clinical trials. "If we could've identified people who would have adverse events, then we would've had a market for that drug," asserts Alan Roses, MD, a clinical neurologist who became Glaxo's VP and worldwide director, genetics, in June 1997. In fact.Glaxo could have predicted the complications with troglitazone by examining patients' genetic profiles, Roses asserts.