What is the primary focus of pharmacogenomics in medication therapy?

The primary focus of pharmacogenomics in medication therapy is to study how genes influence individual responses to drugs. This field combines pharmacology and genomics to understand the genetic factors that can affect a person’s response to medication, including efficacy, toxicity, and the likelihood of adverse effects. By examining variations in genes, healthcare providers can tailor medication choices to individual patients, optimizing treatment outcomes and minimizing risks.

This personalized approach has significant implications for developing effective treatment plans, especially for medications with narrow therapeutic indices, where the difference between a therapeutic dose and a toxic dose is small. Understanding genetic variations helps in selecting the right drug at the right dose for the right patient, which can lead to more effective and safer medication therapy.

The other options, while relevant to some aspects of medication therapy, do not capture the core intent of pharmacogenomics as accurately as the correct choice. For example, determining optimal drug formulations and evaluating drug interactions are important components of pharmacotherapy but are not specific to the genetic factors that pharmacogenomics addresses. Similarly, assessing drug costs and availability pertains to economic considerations rather than the biological and genetic interactions defining pharmacogenomics.