Genome sequencing as a platform for pharmacogenetic genotyping: a pediatric cohort study

Whole-genome sequencing and whole-exome sequencing have proven valuable for diagnosing inherited diseases, particularly in children. However, usage of sequencing data as a pharmacogenetic screening tool to ensure medication safety and effectiveness remains to be explored. Sixty-seven variants in 19 genes with known effects on drug response were compared between genome sequencing and targeted genotyping data for coverage and concordance in 98 pediatric patients. We used targeted genotyping data as a benchmark to assess accuracy of variant calling, and to identify copy number variations of the CYP2D6 gene. We then predicted clinical impact of these variants on drug therapy. We find genotype concordance across those panels to be > 97%. Concordance of CYP2D6 predicted phenotype between estimates of whole-genome sequencing and targeted genotyping panel were 90%; a result from a lower coverage depth or variant calling difficulties in our whole-genome sequencing data when copy number variation and/or the CYP2D6*4 haplotype were present. Importantly, 95 children had at least one clinically actionable pharmacogenetic variant. Diagnostic genomic sequencing data can be used for pre-emptive pharmacogenetic screening. However, concordance between genome-wide sequencing and target genotyping needs to be characterized for each of the pharmacologically important genes.