A small pilot study suggests an experimental blood test for fibromyalgia – called FibroGENE — could be used to determine which drug works best for each patient. Researchers at AMPEL BioSolutions and Duke University Medical Center found genetic biomarkers in the blood cells of 18 lupus patients with fibromyalgia-like symptoms.

AMPEL BioSolutions announced a breakthrough in precision and personalized medicine that could revolutionize the way doctors treat chronic pain syndromes, such as fibromyalgia. Revealed in the peer-reviewed journal Lupus Science and Medicine, the paper details AMPEL’s breakthrough approach to characterize the underlying disease activity from gene expression data obtained from patient blood samples.

This will transform the way doctors treat fibromyalgia by using the information gathered by the lab test and analyzed by bioinformatics to characterize the precise molecular abnormalities and treat symptoms, reduce pain and increase the quality of life of millions of Americans.  The application of AMPEL’s genomic approach to fibromyalgia could also assist pharmaceutical companies in drug development and clinical trials. 

A medical discovery has been made in Charlottesville that may help people who experience chronic pain, fatigue and brain fog. “This is a big problem. This is a clinical problem that is not addressed. And it’s a problem that tends to discount patients,” said CEO and Chief Medical Officer Peter Lipsky.

Working with colleagues at Duke University Medical Center, AMPEL found unique gene signatures that identified patients with Lupus who had prominent features of fibromyalgia. These signatures served as the basis of FibroGENE®, capable of identifying subjects with fibromyalgia with or without Lupus.