Many drugs are being administered to tackle coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic situations without establishing clinical effectiveness or tailoring safety. A repurposing strategy might be more effective and successful if pharmacogenetic interventions are being considered in future clinical studies/trials. Although it is very unlikely that there are almost no pharmacogenetic data for COVID-19 drugs, however, from inferring the pharmacokinetic (PK)/pharmacodynamic(PD) properties and some pharmacogenetic evidence in other diseases/clinical conditions, it is highly likely that pharmacogenetic associations are also feasible in at least some COVID-19 drugs. We strongly mandate to undertake a pharmacogenetic assessment for at least these drug–gene pairs (atazanavir–UGT1A1, ABCB1, SLCO1B1, APOA5; efavirenz–CYP2B6; nevirapine–HLA, CYP2B6, ABCB1; lopinavir–SLCO1B3, ABCC2; ribavirin–SLC28A2; tocilizumab–FCGR3A; ivermectin–ABCB1; oseltamivir–CES1, ABCB1; clopidogrel–CYP2C19, ABCB1, warfarin–CYP2C9, VKORC1; non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)–CYP2C9) in COVID-19 patients for advancing precision medicine. Molecular docking and computational studies are promising to achieve new therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 infection. The current situation in the discovery of anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents at four important targets from in silico studies has been described and summarized in this review. Although natural occurring compounds from different herbs against SARS-CoV-2 infection are favorable, however, accurate experimental investigation of these compounds is warranted to provide insightful information. Moreover, clinical considerations of drug–drug interactions (DDIs) and drug–herb interactions (DHIs) of the existing repurposed drugs along with pharmacogenetic (e.g., efavirenz and CYP2B6) and herbogenetic (e.g., andrographolide and CYP2C9) interventions, collectively called multifactorial drug–gene interactions (DGIs), may further accelerate the development of precision COVID-19 therapies in the real-world clinical settings.

Aggregated risk of carbamazepine (CBZ)‐induced cutaneous adverse drug reactions (cADRs) with different HLA variants are unclear and limited in terms of the power of studies . This study aimed to assess the aggregated risk of CBZ‐induced cADRs associated with carrying the following HLA variants: HLA‐B*15:02 , HLA‐B*15:11 , HLA‐B*15:21 , HLA‐B*38:02 , HLA‐B*40:01 , HLA‐B*46:01 , HLA‐B*58:01 , HLA‐A*24:02 , and HLA‐A*31:01 . Literature was searched in different databases following PRISMA guidelines. The outcomes were measured as odds ratio (OR) using RevMan software by a random/fixed effects model, where p < 0.05 was set as statistical significance. In total, 46 case–control studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this analysis consisting of 1817 cases and 6614 controls. It was found that case‐patients who carried the HLA‐B*15:02 allele were associated with a significantly increased risk of CBZ‐induced Stevens−Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN) compared to controls (OR 26.01; 95% CI 15.88–42.60; p < 0.00001). The aggregated risk of cADRs was slightly higher in Asian compared to Caucasian patients (Asians: OR 14.84; 95% CI 8.95–24.61; p < 0.00001; Caucasians: OR 11.65; 95% CI 1.68–80.70; p = 0.01). Further, HLA‐B*15:11 , HLA‐B*15:21 , or HLA‐A*31:01 allele was also associated with significantly increased risk of CBZ‐induced cADRs ( HLA‐B*15:11: OR 6.08; 95% CI 2.28–16.23; p = 0.0003; HLA‐B*15:21: OR 5.37; 95% CI 2.02–14.28; p = 0.0008; HLA‐A*31:01: OR 5.92; 95% CI 4.35–8.05; p < 0.00001). Other HLA variants were not found to have any significant associations with CBZ‐induced cADRs. Strong associations between the HLA‐B*15:02 , HLA‐B*15:11 , HLA‐B*15:21 , or HLA‐A*31:01 allele with CBZ‐induced cADRs have been established in this analysis. Pharmacogenetic testing of particular HLA alleles before initiation of CBZ therapy may be beneficial to patients and may help to eradicate cADRs substantially.

Background: The HLA-B is the most polymorphic gene, play a crucial role in drug-induced hypersensitivity reactions. There is a lot of evidence associating several risk alleles to life-threatening adverse drug reactions, and a few of them have been approved as valid biomarkers for predicting life-threatening hypersensitivity reactions.Objectives: The objective of this present study is to present the progression of HLA-B pharmacogenomics (PGx) testing in the Thai population during a 10‐year period, from 2011 to 2020.Methods: This was a retrospective observational cohort study conducted at the Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital. Overall, 13,985 eligible patients who were tested for HLA-B risk alleles between periods of 2011–2020 at the study site were included in this study.Results: The HLA PGx testing has been increasing year by year tremendously, 94 HLA-B testing was done in 2011; this has been raised to 2,880 in 2020. Carbamazepine (n = 4,069, 33%), allopurinol (n = 4,675, 38%), and abacavir (n = 3,246, 26%) were the most common drugs for which the HLA-B genotyping was performed. HLA-B*13:01, HLA-B*15:02 and HLA-B*58:01 are highly frequent, HLA-B*51:01 and HLA-B*57:01 are moderately frequent alleles that are being associated with drug induced hypersensitivity. HLA-B*59:01 and HLA-B*38:01 theses alleles are rare but has been reported with drug induced toxicity. Most of the samples were from state hospital (50%), 36% from private clinical laboratories and 14% from private hospitals.Conclusion: According to this study, HLA-B PGx testing is increasing substantially in Thailand year after year. The advancement of research in this field, increased physician awareness of PGx, and government and insurance scheme reimbursement assistance could all be factors. Incorporating PGx data, along with other clinical and non-clinical data, into clinical decision support systems (CDS) and national formularies, on the other hand, would assist prescribers in prioritizing therapy for their patients. This will also aid in the prediction and prevention of serious adverse drug reactions.