First Genetic Test for Type 2 Diabetes Risk: DeCode T2™, Soon in the U.S. Market

Filed in archive Developments , News on April 17, 2007

An Icelandic biotechnology company - DeCode Genetics Inc. - is bringing to the U.S. market the first genetic test for type 2 diabetes risk: DeCode T2™.

DeCode T2™ is DeCode's first marketed product (which will cost about $500) that identifies a gene variation (single-nucleotide polymorphisms or SNiPs) that doubles the risk of diabetes.

Decode's Chief Executive Officer Kari Stefansson, stated:

"This is a risk factor for diabetes that we have discovered. It's our duty to allow people to have themselves tested for it.

The information is valuable but reducing your risk from 14 percent to 7 percent might not be enough motivation for the average American citizen.''

As explained by Harvard Medical School's C. Ronald Kahn (head of obesity and hormone action research at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston), while the average person already has a 7% risk of developing diabetes, a positive test result on DeCode T2™ raises the risk to about 14 percent.

Thus, people testing positive can already work on reducing that 14% risk through diet and exercise. Think of this as an early precaution. The U.S. government may just have to work on reducing that 500$ cost so that the test will become more available to the general public.

Find more details about DeCode T2 from Bloomberg's article and DeCode Genetics's press release.