The University of Rochester Medical Center (N.Y.) has a new tool to assess whether a medication might be harmful to the heart. The technology addresses a major health issue -- drug toxicity – illustrated most recently by Merck’s voluntary withdrawal of Vioxx from the market after concerns that it may cause heart attacks and strokes.Jean-Philippe Couderc, a UR biomedical engineer, developed a software program that provides a simpler, more accurate way to analyze the electrocardiograms (EKGs) of people who volunteer for clinical trials to test new drugs. The Food and Drug Administration this month purchased a copy of the technology, called COMPAS, which stands for Comprehensive Analysis of Repolarization Signal. The university hopes to license the copyrighted software to drug companies and other institutions involved in pre-market drug testing, said John Fahner-Vihtelic, deputy director, URMC office of Technology Transfer.
