Implementation of the Genetic Information Management Suite (bio.logis) IT platform to automate report creation
Personalized medicine is on everybody’s lips. For many patients it is a ray of hope because it promises better therapy and treatment results for the individual patient. Taking into account a patient’s genetic make-up is of particular importance here. Stuttgart’s Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch institute for clinical pharmacology (IKP) at the Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus (RBK) is one of the leading pharmacogenetics institutions worldwide and works on how hereditary factors influence drug efficacy. Together with bio.logis GIM, a company based in Frankfurt, RBK will implement a newly developed IT platform (Genetic Information Management Suite, GIMS) and integrate it with its hospital information system using existing interfaces. GIMS enables RBK to automate the translation of its patients’ pharmacogenetic results into clinically exploitable therapy recommendations. For the first time, patients access their personal pharmacogenetic findings via a Web portal and use them for future medical treatment.
“Why does some medication not work on certain patients?”, “Why do I experience side effects from a standard therapy?”—are questions often asked by patients. Stuttgart’s Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch institute for clinical pharmacology (IKP) has been working for many years on finding out the underlying causes. One focus is on pharmacogenetics, i.e., researching the influence of individual hereditary factors on drug efficacy. Prof. Matthias Schwab, IKP Director and professor for Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Tübingen, states: “For over 50 years, pharmacogenetics has been delivering excellent research and concepts for personalized medicine. We have now reached the point where we can systematically leverage this knowledge in Germany for the first time.”
Taking personal genetic analysis results into account in work routines easily and reliably and to gear hospital physicians’ therapy decisions towards it, is a topic that bio.logis GIM and its founder and Medical Managing Director, Prof. Daniela Steinberger, has been working on for many years. The human geneticist and her team have developed the Genetic Information Management Suite (GIMS) software solution that is capable of translating pharmacogenetic results into easily understood and specific recommendations for physicians in mere seconds.
The entire process is based on international guidelines. “Providing human genetics diagnostics reports is a complex process, requiring a high level of expertise; but it is hardly standardized yet,” says Prof. Daniela Steinberger, bio.logis GIM. “Patients can now be recommended to adjust their drug dose if, for example, they are missing a certain enzyme due to their genetic make-up. Straightforward therapy instructions can put treating physicians in a position to better categorize and reduce the risk of adverse side effects and therapy discontinuation,” adds Schwab.
The GIMS software, which complies with data protection regulations, is to be linked to RBK’s hospital information system and IKP’s genotyping platform in the next few months to integrate it with the existing work routine of RBK physicians. If the treating physician chooses pharmacogenetic diagnostics, a blood sample for analysis at the IKP is taken from the patient after obtaining their written consent as stipulated by the German Genetics Testing Law. The pharmacogenetics report generated by GIMS results in a recommendation to be used by the treating physician for their final choice of the correct dose for individual patients.
What makes GIMS so special: All patients can access their own pharmacogenetics reports online via a Web portal or mobile apps and make them available to physicians regardless of where they are based. “This allows the direct use of pharmacogenetics information also for future medical treatments, whether you are in Germany or abroad,” says Schwab.
“We are very happy to have won a renowned partner in RBK and a comrade-in-arms in IKP’s Mr Professor Schwab as a leading influencer in pharmacogenetics. The pharmacogenetic diagnostics concept now launched at RBK embodies the idea of personalized medicine with a comprehensive end-to-end solution for individual patients,” stresses Enrico Just, Managing Director, bio.logis GIM GmbH.
About bio.logis Genetic Information Management GmbH
bio.logis Genetic Information Management GmbH translates genetic data into medically leverageable information and makes it available to physicians and patients. To that end, it has developed a special “Genetic Information Management Suite (GIMS)” IT solution which, in the process chain required for genetic diagnostics, focuses on the "last mile” from physician to patient by merging raw genetic data with clinically leverageable knowledge for prompt application. GIMS supports physicians both in laboratories for automatically generating such expert content, and in hospitals with specific clinical suggestions. The physician reports and recommended action generated by GIMS is delivered straight to the point of care via laboratory and physician information systems as well as electronic health records.
For more information about our company and our products, please visit www.biologis.com.
Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus
Stuttgart’s Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus (RBK) is a hospital funded by the Robert Bosch foundation for centralized treatment with functions for maximum treatment three locations. Since 1978 the Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus has been an academic teaching hospital of the University of Tübingen. With 1,031 beds, RBK, its sites Charlottenhaus clinic and Schillerhöhe clinic as well as the clinic for geriatric rehabilitation, have over 44,000 in-patients per year. Around 2,700 men and women ensure that RBK’s patients receive personalized nursing care. The hospital has 22 specialist departments in its centers for internal, surgical and diagnostic medicine and in its center for pneumology and thorax surgery, the Irmgard Bosch educational center, the institute for medical history and the Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch institute for clinical pharmacology.
www.rbk.de
The Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch institute for clinical pharmacology
The Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch institute for clinical pharmacology at the Robert Bosch hospital is one of the leading pharmacogenetics institutions worldwide and works on how hereditary factors influence drug efficacy. Collaborating with national and international partners, including the Tübingen university hospital and the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, the focus is on pharmacogenetics and cancer research.
All departments of the Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus closely work with the Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch institute for clinical pharmacology. The insights gained from this collaboration are used directly in further training of nursing staff and physicians.
www.ikp-stuttgart.de
www.rbk.de
Press contacts:
Dr. Maike Post
bio.logis Genetic Information Management GmbH
Altenhöferallee 3
D-60438 Frankfurt am Main
Phone: +49 (0) 69 3487391 31
maike.post@biologis.com
Marlies Kepp
Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus
Auerbachstraße 110
D-70376 Stuttgart
Phone +49 (0) 8101 3047
marlies.kepp@rbk.de
Manuela Rost-Hein
Ketchum Pleon
c/o Torstrasse 140
D-10119 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0) 30 400 54 752
manuela.rost-hein@ketchumpleon.com