New ‘Suicidality' Test Predicts Suicide Risk

By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje

A new test aims to help doctors determine the odds of a patient committing suicide based on their physical composition. 

“Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich have now discovered 79 genetic biomarkers that had a 91 percent probability of correctly classifying patients at risk of antidepressant-induced suicide,” according to a blog post from the institute, a top German research organization. 

Patients vary considerably when it comes to their risk of suicide, but “up until now, doctors have had no indications as to which patients may be at risk” of suicide when prescribed medication for depression, the blog said.

The announcement came from the institute when the Boulder-based company Sundance “entered a licensing agreement with [the institute] to expand [its] initial clinical validation of genetic markers and to commercialize the diagnostic test,” according to the Boulder County Business Report. 

More testing is needed, according to the Report: “Clinical studies will be initiated in support of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration submission for market clearance, European CE marking, and insurance reimbursement.”

The approval process is already underway: “The company plans for applications to be submitted to the regulatory agencies within 18 months,” the Report said. 

The backdrop is that in the U.S., Canada, and some parts of Europe, antidepressants are marked with a warning highlighting the serious risk of medication-induced suicidality, the institute said.

Sundance CEO Kim Bechthold said in the institute release: “Our hope is that the new test will assist the physician in significantly reducing the risk of suicide emerging from antidepressant drug use and will provide patients and families with valuable personal information to use with their doctors in weighing the risks and benefits of the medications.”

The American Foundation on Suicide Prevention provides statistics on the problem.

“Over 38,000 Americans took their lives in 2010,” the foundation reported. “Suicide accounted for 12 deaths for every 100,000 people nationwide, making it the country’s tenth leading cause of death. Unlike many other leading causes of death, suicide continues to claim more lives each year.”

Image credit: Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry