YouScript is excited to announce the next PGxperts™ Bytes – a series of short discussions covering important topics across the pharmacogenomics space.
Host Joel Diamond, CMO of Aranscia, and guest Houda Hachad, Vice President of Clinical Operations at Aranscia®, discuss how to manage medications, polypharmacy, and chemotherapy using PGx testing to reduce ADEs.
YouScript is excited to announce the next PGxperts™ Bytes – a series of short discussions covering important topics across the pharmacogenomics space.
Host Houda Hachad, Vice President of Clinical Operations at Aranscia®, and Joel Diamond, CMO of Aranscia, discuss how to manage maternal mental health through precision medicine.
YouScript is excited to announce the next PGxperts™ Bytes – a series of short discussions covering important topics across the pharmacogenomics space.
Host Joel Diamond, CMO of Aranscia®, and Houda Hachad, Vice President of Clinical Operations at Aranscia, discuss medication safety, survey readiness, and the role of PGx in long-term care.
YouScript is excited to announce the next PGxperts™ Bytes – a series of short discussions covering important topics across the pharmacogenomics space.
Host Joel Diamond, CMO of Aranscia®, and Houda Hachad, Vice President of Clinical Operations at Aranscia, discuss the case for DPYD testing.
Aranscia® solutions help oncologists comply with new FDA warning label requiring DPYD genetic testing in patients receiving select chemotherapies
HOUSTON, Oct. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Oncologists and pharmacy experts are reacting to last week’s Food and Drug Administration warning that requires genetic testing on patients receiving the common chemotherapy drug capecitabine (Xeloda®) – and are actively seeking technologies that allow them to leverage these test results within their clinical workflows. Aranscia, a leading provider of personalized, precision diagnostics and clinical workflow solutions, equips providers with discrete diagnostic, clinical decision support, and software solutions. These are designed to help identify patients who harbor DPYD variants, streamline the test-ordering workflow, and deliver actionable reports and insights at the point of care.
“A concerning number of patients have difficulty metabolizing capecitabine and fluorouracil, which are commonly used to treat a wide range of cancers,” noted Houda Hachad, PharmD and Vice President of Clinical Operations at Aranscia. The DPYD gene produces dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD), an enzyme responsible for metabolizing these medications. DPYD gene variants may cause DPD deficiencies, leading to dangerously high or toxic accumulations of these drugs.
Between 3% and 8% of the general population carries one copy of variants associated with lower DPD metabolizing capacity.
Early in October, the FDA updated the label for Genentech’s Xeloda (capecitabine), explicitly requiring providers to assess patient genetic risk for severe toxicities from this commonly prescribed chemotherapy prior to treatment. The so-called “black box warning” on the Xeloda label now states: “Serious adverse reactions or death may occur in patients with complete DPD deficiency. Test patients for genetic variants of DPYD prior to initiating Xeloda unless immediate treatment is necessary. Avoid use of Xeloda in patients with certain homozygous or compound heterozygous DPYD variants that result in complete DPD deficiency.”
“Advocates for pre-treatment DPYD testing believe that the FDA will likewise revise labelling for fluorouracil to require testing,” adds Dr. Hachad.
“A number of diagnostic laboratories offer standalone and panel solutions for DPYD testing,” she continues, “but providers are encountering workflow barriers that impede their ability to adopt this testing as standard of care and to access results when and where they need them.” This is especially critical since testing is required before important treatment is initiated.
While some leading academic medical centers have successfully developed technological solutions in-house, she said, other health systems and community oncology centers – where 80 percent of cancer patients are treated – may lack the time, personnel, and financial resources to build a ground-up solution. The Aranscia software portfolio (which includes 2bPrecise®, Spesana, and YouScript®) can accommodate the “round trip” testing workflow from identifying patients, to ordering the appropriate test, to delivering timely reports, and surfacing vital information via alerts and notifications within the patient’s electronic medical record.
“Ensuring fast and efficient rapid access to high-quality testing, along with providing oncologists with actionable insights before treatment, is crucial,” Dr. Hachad emphasized. “Furthermore, Aranscia’s capability to integrate and unify siloed genomic results from various cancer diagnostics into clinically meaningful intelligence supports organizations as they manage diverse DPYD test results (e.g., incidental), as well as other important cancer biomarkers.”
About Aranscia
Aranscia delivers world-class diagnostic software, services, and testing innovations that help clinicians improve care outcomes. The Aranscia portfolio of companies, which includes 2bPrecise, AccessDx Laboratory, Spesana, and YouScript, has extensive practical expertise in molecular diagnostics, genomics, and digital-first clinical workflows. Aranscia enables clinical organizations to effectively utilize precision diagnostics for turnkey programs in fields such as pharmacogenomics, infectious disease management, precision oncology, and genetic screening. With a dual focus on simplicity and scalability, Aranscia’s portfolio companies are the ideal partner for long-term, value-based precision medicine initiatives. For more information, please visit www.aranscia.com.
Media Contact
Karina Stabile
516-317-5835
Polypharmacy, adverse drug events, the Beers Criteria, and pain management.
“Personalized prescribing in long-term care: Why it matters more than ever,” by Joel Diamond, CMO of YouScript’s Partner, AccessDx Laboratory, in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, covers it all. Learn about hidden drug dangers, the application of hashtagpharmacogenomics as a tool in the LTC toolkit, and implementation and guidance for facilities.
Read the article here: https://www.mcknights.com/marketplace/marketplace-experts/personalized-prescribing-in-long-term-care-why-it-matters-more-than-ever/
YouScript is excited to announce the next PGxperts™ Bytes – a series of short discussions covering important topics across the pharmacogenomics space.
Watch the latest here: https://vimeo.com/1097669214/87a0886a15?ts=7560&share=copy
Host Kristine Ashcraft, President and Founder of YouScript, and Houda Hachad, Vice President of Clinical Operations at Aranscia, discuss how to select a quality PGx partner.
Prestigious International Annual Awards Program Recognizes Standout Digital Health & Medical Technology Products and Companies
SEATTLE, WA – May 8, 2025 – YouScript®, an Aranscia company, today announced that it is the recipient of the “PharmaTech Innovation Award” award in the 9th annual MedTech Breakthrough Awards program conducted by MedTech Breakthrough, an independent market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global digital health and medical technology market.
The 2025 MedTech Breakthrough Award recognizes the industry-leading innovations of the YouScript Precision Prescribing platform and its positive impact on millions of patient lives. As one of the foundational leaders in personalized medication management for over two decades, YouScript’s award-winning solutions, extensive program experience, and tested and proven operations teams provide distinct advantages in the design, execution, and success of personalized prescribing programs. Studies show that that YouScript-powered programs have helped to reduce hospitalizations and emergency department visits by 39% and 71%, respectively.
The power of YouScript’s technology platform lies within intuitive capabilities that assist providers to make intelligent, proactive medication decisions at the point of care. YouScript provides evidence-based guidance on drug and dose selection incorporating pharmacogenomics (PGx), drug-drug interactions, and phenoconversion, plus a patented framework for proactive risk assessments to highlight the direct potential impact of personalized prescribing. YouScript’s decision support technologies, which contain drug-gene insights from over 19,000 high-evidence references covering over 2,000 medications, are widely available via EMR integrations, standalone applications, and APIs.
“YouScript’s suite of technology and program solutions highlight a foundational mission to help unlock the true power of precision prescribing for all,” said Kristine Ashcraft, Founder and President of YouScript. “We are proud of our continued growth and expansion as a trusted partner to value-based healthcare organizations, providers, and payers, and we thank MedTech Breakthrough for this incredible recognition.”
The MedTech Breakthrough Awards program celebrates excellence and innovation in the health and medical technology industry, recognizing the companies, products, and solutions driving meaningful progress and improving patient care. Spanning a wide range of categories—including Telehealth, Clinical Administration, Patient Engagement, Electronic Health Records (EHR), Virtual Care, Medical Devices, Medical Data & Privacy, and beyond—the awards highlight the groundbreaking work that is transforming the healthcare landscape.
This year’s program saw a record-breaking number of nominations from leading companies and startups across more than 18 countries, showcasing the global impact and momentum of the digital healthcare industry today.
“YouScript is an industry-leading provider of medication management solutions that unlock the true power of precision prescribing for all,” said Steve Johansson, managing director, MedTech Breakthrough. “YouScript identifies substantially more major issues than typical drug-drug interaction programs, allowing healthcare providers to reduce trial-and-error prescribing, reduce costs, and improve patient outcomes. We’re thrilled to award YouScript with the ‘PharmaTech Innovation Award!’”
YouScript technology is also now powering alerting-based precision medicine solutions for thousands of individual client groups, pharmacy systems, long-term care systems, and pharmacy benefit managers that collectively support millions of patient lives.
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About YouScript
YouScript is a leader in pharmacogenomics research, insights, and software solutions that help make precision prescribing possible. YouScript’s lab-agnostic PGx risk, insights, and reference solutions assist clinical professionals to make fast, proactive decisions at the point of care. YouScript’s PGx program support and research initiatives span more than two decades and have often served as a foundational basis for best practices in assessing categorial risk and measuring outcomes across the entire PGx industry. For more information, please visit www.youscript.com.
About Aranscia
Aranscia delivers world-class diagnostic software, services, and testing innovations that help clinicians improve care outcomes. The Aranscia portfolio of companies, which includes 2bPrecise, AccessDx Laboratory, and YouScript, have extensive practical expertise in molecular diagnostics, genomics, and digital-first clinical workflows. Aranscia enables clinical organizations to effectively utilize precision diagnostics for turnkey programs in fields such as pharmacogenomics, infectious disease management, precision oncology, and genetic screening. With a dual focus on simplicity and scalability, Aranscia’s portfolio companies are the ideal partner for long-term, value-based precision medicine initiatives. For more information, please visit www.aranscia.com
About MedTech Breakthrough
Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the MedTech Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence and innovation in medical & health technology companies, products, services and people. The MedTech Breakthrough Awards provide a platform for public recognition around the achievements of breakthrough healthcare and medical companies and products in categories that include Patient Experience & Engagement, Health & Fitness, Medical Devices, Clinical Administration, Connected Healthcare, Medical Data, Healthcare Cybersecurity and more. For more information visit MedTechBreakthrough.com.
“Patients with DPYD variations are 25.6X more likely to experience treatment related death on standard‐dose fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy (5‐fluorouracil or capecitabine).” – Kristine Ashcraft, President and Founder of YouScript
Read more about Kristine’s thoughts on the recent FDA safety announcment regarding DPYD testing in “Screening for DPD: Q&A with Kristine Ashcraft” by Pharmaceutical Executive by clicking here.
“Greater than 99% of people have at least one [genetic] variation that impacts, on average, over 10 commonly prescribed medications that a patient will take,” said Kristine Ashcraft, the President and Founder of YouScript.
Read more into Kristine’s insights in the final installment of Pharmacy Practice News‘s 7-part series where industry experts express the importance of crossing barriers to pharmacogenomic implementation in health systems.
Access the full article here.
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