SCIENTISTS from the region have been given more than £600,000 to help protect patients from potentially life-threatening drug side-effects.

Every year, a small number of patients suffer fatal liver damage after taking penicillin or anti-TB drugs.

Dr Ann Daly, from Newcastle University, will head a team that will investigate whether a person's genetic make-up makes them more susceptible to liver injury as a result of taking these two drugs.

The Newcastle team,which is working closely with colleagues at Liverpool University, has been awarded £637,550 to identify genetic factors that may put some patients at risk.

The allocation is part of a total of £4m being invested in pharmocogenetics, a futuristic approach that looks at how a patient's genes can effect their response to different medicines.

Research is still in its early stages, but it is hoped that eventually doctors will be able to use information about a patient's genetic profile to predict how they might respond to different medicines and then tailor treatments to suit their individual needs.

It is hoped this will allow doctors to improve the effectiveness of some treatments by targeting those patients who are likely to respond well.

Dr Daly, whose team includes Dr Farham Kamali and Professor Chris Day, is also involved in a separate research project at Liverpool University, which has been allocated £842,192.

The Liverpool project will look into adverse reactions to Warfarin, which is prescribed to prevent blood clotting and is used by 600,000 patients in the UK. For some patients it can lead to bleeding and the research will look into whether genetics and environmental factors play a part in this side-effect.

Health Minister Lord Warner said: "Whilst research in this area is still in its early stages, pharmacogenetics has enormous potential."