The Past, Present and Future of DTC Genetic Testing Regulation
[Editor’s Note: Newsweek science editor Mary Carmichael has a DNA Dilemma. As Carmichael debates whether to take a direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic test, she is soliciting feedback from the DTC community, from the public and from other commentators, including myself. At the end of the week, she will make her decision.
On Tuesday, Carmichael and five commentators examined what can be learned from a DTC genetic test. Yesterday, the topic was whether DTC genetic tests are trustworthy, and whether the results can be cause for concern. Today’s topic is the regulation of DTC genetic tests. In addition to several short commentaries, including a much shorter version of the piece below, Carmichael has also posted a lengthy interview with two top FDA officials on the subject of DTC genetic testing regulation.
The column below is an expanded version of what appears over at Newsweek. To see all of the commentaries in Carmichael’s series, click here.]
The recent media attention focused on direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests has left companies, investors, consumers and even regulators scrambling to figure out what comes next.
As the situation stands today, companies and their investors live in a climate of unprecedented regulatory uncertainty, causing delays in the introduction of new products and rendering an already inhospitable economic climate – for both fundraising and sales – even more challenging. Commentators and regulators caution consumers that some DTC genetic tests may be unreliable or, worse, harmful, but have yet to provide clear tools and guidelines for evaluating competing tests. And regulators, including the FDA, must balance their mandate to protect the health and safety of the public with that same public’s desire for autonomy, while also recognizing that innovation is a prerequisite for a healthcare system that must continue to improve outcomes while reducing costs.
Clearly, something must change. But what will that change be? And how will the field of DTC genetic testing evolve? Will DTC be able to continue its current business while regulators and companies engage in protracted negotiations? Will oversight weed out the “snake oil salesmen” and permit legitimate companies to flourish? Will it drive all genetic testing (temporarily) out of the hands of consumers?
Or will the field change in a dramatic and completely unexpected way?
“From Gulf Oil to Snake Oil”: Congress Takes Aim at DTC Genetic Testing
It has been a busy week in Washington for direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing companies. Following public FDA meetings and a new round of FDA device notification letters earlier in the week, representatives from three major DTC genetic testing companies (23andMe, Navigenics and Pathway Genomics) were hauled in front of Congress today to defend their companies, their industry and the practice of DTC genetic testing.
The hearing on “Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Testing and the Consequences to Public Health” was conducted by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. The meeting was chaired by Representative Bart Stupak of Michigan. Materials from the hearing, including a briefing memorandum, opening statements from Stupak and Representative Henry Waxman of California and witness testimony are available on the Committee’s website. Also available are materials from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation into DTC genetic tests. These materials include the report the GAO submitted to Congress – “Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Tests: Misleading Test Results Are Further Complicated by Deceptive Marketing and Other Questionable Practices” (pdf) – as well as a YouTube video featuring excerpts from undercover phone calls made by the GAO to DTC companies as part of their investigation (both of which are discussed in detail below).
While You Were Meeting: FDA Mails Letters to 14 More Genetic Test Providers
Earlier this week the FDA held a widely publicized two-day public meeting to discuss its planned regulation of laboratory developed tests (LDTs) (for more see: Day One Recap and Day Two Recap). Other than Monday morning, when the FDA presented background information on LDTs and some of the considerations that have pushed the Agency to pursue a “risk-based application of oversight to LDTs,” the top Agency officials at the meeting were conspicuously quiet. Elsewhere, however, the FDA was doing plenty of talking.
In letters dated July 19th, the first day of the FDA’s public LDT meeting, the Agency continued its crackdown on direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic test providers, mailing letters to 14 providers of genetic tests. A list of all 14 companies and tests appears below.
The Conversation Continues: Recap from Day Two of FDA’s Regulatory Meeting
The second and final day of the FDA’s “Public Meeting on Oversight of Laboratory Developed Tests” (LDTs) brought forth many of the same comments and themes as the first. The primary difference was that, whereas the first day began with some comments from the Agency that provided a few hints about what the FDA has in store for LDTs, the second day was notable for the FDA’s near-total silence (although key officials were present and listening). Indeed, perhaps the loudest applause of the day was reserved for Sharon Terry of Genetic Alliance, who remarked that while she was glad the FDA had invited so many comments, “it would be nice [if the Agency] would say something back.”
Something Old, Something New. In addition to a reiteration of yesterday’s themes – especially the need for additional data demonstrating how LDTs are used and what harms, if any, they have inflicted on consumers and patients – a few new areas of discussion emerged over the course of the day. Those included:
Breaking: Congressional Committee Requests Additional Information Regarding 23andMe Sample Swap
Nearly a month ago we reported that the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce had launched an investigation into direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing, sending letters to several of the most prominent DTC companies: 23andMe, Pathway Genomics and Navigenics.
Today the Committee has followed up with another letter, this one directed to 23andMe president and co-founder Anne Wojcicki, inquiring into the circumstances surrounding the company’s recent and widely reported sample swap. The letter (pdf), which is signed by the same four Representatives (Waxman, Barton, Stupak and Burgess) requests the following:
Read the rest of this entry »
What Five FDA Letters Mean for the Future of DTC Genetic Testing
The FDA has published online letters sent to five personal genomics companies – 23andMe, Navigenics, deCODE Genetics, Knome and Illumina – informing the companies that they are manufacturing and selling medical devices without appropriate FDA premarket review and approval. No surprise that the news that the FDA has sent out letters to some of the most well-known providers of DTC genetic testing products is already making waves. (Daniel MacArthur was the first to point me to the AP story, and Mary Carmichael of Newsweek and Andrew Pollack of The New York Times were among the first to dive into the substance of the letters.)
Below, we will discuss the immediate and long-term implications of the FDA’s most recent regulatory actions for the five companies receiving letters, as well as for the DTC genetic testing industry. First, however, a review of the letters themselves is required. Each of the five two-page letters is signed by Alberto Gutierrez, Director of the FDA’s Office of In Vitro Diagnostic Device Evaluation and Safety (OIVD), and follows a similar format throughout. To gauge the impact of these letters we will take them paragraph by paragraph.
Breaking: Congress to Investigate DTC Genetic Testing
The United States House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce today launched an investigation into direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing, sending letters to three prominent DTC companies: 23andMe, Pathway Genomics and Navigenics. Here is the announcement from the Committee:
Today Chairman Henry A. Waxman, Ranking Member Joe Barton, Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Michael C. Burgess sent letters to 23andMe, Inc., Navigenics, and Pathway Genomics Corporation in light of recent reports that at least one of the companies is seeking to sell personal genetic testing kits in retail locations, despite concern from the scientific community regarding the accuracy of test results.
The Committee is requesting information from the companies on several aspects of the tests: How the companies analyze test results to determine consumers’ risk for any conditions, diseases, drug responses, and adverse reactions; the ability of the companies’ genetic testing products to accurately identify any genetic risks; and the companies’ policies for the collection, storage, and processing of individual genetic samples collected from consumers.
FDA Puts the Brakes on Pathway-Walgreens Pairing; What’s Next for DTC?
Well that was quick. On Tuesday, Pathway Genomics and Walgreens announced a partnership to sell a saliva collection kit for Pathway Genomics’ direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests in Walgreens’ thousands of drugstores nationwide. Less than forty-eight hours later, after the FDA repeatedly voiced its concerns about the arrangement, Walgreens has hit the brakes.
According to an MSNBC story, the FDA sent a letter to Pathway “asking the test maker to show it has regulatory approval, or prove why [the test] should be sold without the agency’s blessing.” In response, Walgreens is “elect[ing] not to move forward with offering the Pathway product to our customers until we have further clarity on this matter.”
Back to the Drawing Board. Despite its obvious significance, it is hard to be surprised by this latest development. When the Director of the FDA’s Office of In Vitro Diagnostic Device Evaluation and Safety (OIVD) tells The Washington Post that you would be selling an “illegally marketed device” if you proceed as intended, you should know the letter is already in the mail and retreat to the drawing board as quickly as possible.
Personal Genomics Follows Pathway to Corner Drugstore; Is Regulation Next?
The direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing marketplace is on the move again. Just last week, in Mapping the Personal Genomics Landscape, I wrote that “predicting precisely which consumer services will be offered and how, if at all, they will be regulated, is impossible. All we know is that personal genomics consumers ten years from now are certain to have many, many more options than they do today.”
Turns out we only needed to wait a week – not a decade – for the landscape to shift again. Earlier today, DTC provider Pathway Genomics announced that it was partnering with drugstore giant Walgreens to offer its genetic testing service through most of that chain’s 7,500 stores.
Is Walgreens the Tipping Point for Personal Genomics Regulation? At first blush, this might appear to be nothing more than a creative product partnership between a fledgling personal genomics company and a giant drugstore chain. As it turns out, there are early indications that the Pathway/Walgreens partnership could turn out to be a tipping point in the regulation of personal genomics.
The New York Times vs. Personal Genomics: Much Ado About Not Very Much
Earlier this month, there was speculation that The New York Times was preparing a piece “attacking” the “fledgling industry” of personal genomics (see: Linda Avey Versus the New York Times). The article in question, by reporter Andrew Pollack, was published over the weekend and, in retrospect, it’s hard to see what all the hubbub was about.
The title (Consumers Slow to Embrace the Age of Genomics) fairly reflects the tone of the rest of the article, which is a factual assessment of the business of personal genomics. In his piece, Pollack brings forth a standard set of issues confronting 23andMe and its peers (including Navigenics, deCODEme and Pathway Genomics). All are familiar, and most drive at a central challenge for these companies: demonstrating the value of their services and identifying customers willing to pay for them. (In a short, separate article that appears alongside, Pollack raises (but does not attempt to resolve) a much more controversial issue: whether personal genomics products represent medical tests or recreational services.) By and large, Pollack points out these challenges to the business of personal genomics without passing judgment.
