With 1 in 8 Australians suffering from depression, the market for antidepressants is a growing one but one which medical professionals can be assisted to navigate through Genetic Technologies (ASX: GTG) and pharmacogenomics, genomic-based artificial intelligence.

The tech will be coming to Australia through a new 3-year distribution agreement with Israel-based Taliaz, the developers of PREDICTIX which is a decision-making support platform that has been designed to optimise treatment for mental health disorder. According to Taliaz, this antidepressant selection technology that can improve today’s antidepressant prescribing accuracy by 47%.

“We are incredibly pleased to have partnered with Taliaz to bring their predictive and personalized mental health product to Australia and New Zealand,” said Genetic Technologies interim CEO, George Muchnicki.

“This distribution agreement is our first external product partnership and our first product within the mental health vertical. Mental health has remained at the forefront of media discussions and government initiatives within Australia, New Zealand and globally due to the ongoing social and economic impact and given the impact from the current global pandemic.

Integrating DNA testing with a patient’s clinical history and demographic background, PREDICTIX ranks the statistical efficacy and potential side effects of the many different antidepressants available to medical professionals. With this information, patients can potentially avoid lengthy trial periods with various mental health medications which in some cases can have adverse effects that result in further pain an economic burden.

“We are excited to partner with Genetic Technologies, world-leaders in the genetic risk assessment space,” said Taliaz CEO and Co-Founder Dekel Taliaz.

“This new partnership will support rapid commercialization of PREDICTIX to help more depression sufferers in Australia, New Zealand and the USA, while adding a complementary and advanced mental health solution to GTG’s growing suite of DNA tests.”

At present, PREDICTIX has been approved for commercial use in Europe with CE-Mark certification while the process is underway in Australia for approval by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). Once approved, Genetic Technologies has committed to a minimum of 7,000 tests over the 3-year term at a cost of $30,000 however end-customer pricing is still to be determined.