PittPharmacy faculty member James C. Coons, PharmD, BCPS-AQ Cardiology was awarded a two-year investigator-sponsored grant from United Therapeutics for his proposal, Evaluation of Factors Influencing Dosing and Clinical Response to Oral Treprostinil. The study aims to investigate pharmacogenomic and pharmacokinetic factors as sources of variability in oral treprostinil dosing and clinical response among patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).
PAH is a progressive disorder which frequently requires targeted therapy with prostacyclins to manage advanced stages of the disease. Oral treprostinil is the first approved oral prostacyclin formulation for management of patients with PAH. Coons hypothesizes that an improved understanding of the interplay between genetic and clinical factors may facilitate a more precise dosing approach leading to fewer adverse events and improved clinical response in these patients.
PittPharmacy faculty members Philip Empey PharmD, PhD and Raman Venkataramanan, PhD are co-investigators on the research team. The work is an extension of the research behind the clinical pharmacogenomics program at UPMC (PreCISE-Rx), which also includes PittPharmacy faculty member James Stevenson, PharmD, MS, BCPP and graduate student Solomon Adams, PharmD.
Coons is an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics and a clinical pharmacist specializing in cardiology at UPMC.
