SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 14, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq:MYGN) today presented clinical data at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium that showed the Myriad's HRD (homologous recombination deficiency) test was significantly associated with cisplatin response in patients with triple negative breast cancer.

In this research study, Myriad's HRD test provided optimal prediction of platinum response in patients with triple negative disease (p=0.0003). The HRD score predicted all of the patients that experienced a complete response after pre-surgical treatment with platinum with a sensitivity of 100 percent. Furthermore, these results showed that the HRD score not only predicted drug response in triple negative patients but the HRD score also was generalizable across all breast cancer subtypes.

"Often tumors with high rates of double-strand DNA repair deficiency are especially difficult to treat," said Jerry Lanchbury, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Myriad Genetics. "It is difficult to know or assess the status of all DNA repair mechanisms, so the HRD test measures the effect by assessing the amount of DNA damage. Our data demonstrate that Myriad's HRD test has the capacity to precisely target DNA damaging therapy to the patients who are most likely to respond. The HRD test has the potential to support the targeted use of PARPs and other drugs in tumors that exhibit DNA repair scars."

This is the second research study to show that Myriad's HRD test predicts drug response to platinum therapy in triple-negative breast cancer patients. In a prior study, 70 percent of patients with an HRD score ≥10 responded to the carboplatin-based treatment, compared to only 20 percent of patients with an HRD score < 10 (p=0.0001). Using the HRD test instead of BRCA status identified more than three times as many patients as likely responders.

Myriad has announced two commercial collaborations to further develop the HRD test. In March, the Company announced it is conducting HRD testing on patients enrolled in PharmaMar's Phase 2 study of PM1183.  In Nov. 2013, Myriad announced a collaboration with BioMarin that will use the HRD test to identify tumor types that may be sensitive to BioMarin's investigational product candidate, BMN-673. The Company also has two other undisclosed collaborations to evaluate HRD as a companion diagnostic.

About Myriad's HRD Test

Myriad's proprietary HRD test detects when a tumor has lost the ability to repair double-stranded DNA breaks resulting in increased susceptibility to DNA-damaging drugs. Myriad's HRD test includes three DNA-based measures of homologous recombination deficiency including: whole genome tumor loss of heterozygosity profiles (HRD-LOH), telomeric allelic imbalance (HRD-TAI) and large-scale state transitions (HRD-LST). All three scores are highly correlated with defects in BRCA1/2 and are associated with sensitivity to platinum agents. High HRD scores are prevalent in all breast cancer subtypes and most other major cancers. It is estimated that 490,000 people in the United States who are diagnosed with cancers annually are candidates for HRD testing with the view to recommend treatment with DNA-damaging agents such as platinum and PARP inhibitors. 

About Myriad Genetics

Myriad Genetics is a leading molecular diagnostic company dedicated to making a difference in patients' lives through the discovery and commercialization of transformative tests to assess a person's risk of developing disease, guide treatment decisions and assess risk of disease progression and recurrence. Myriad's molecular diagnostic tests are based on an understanding of the role genes play in human disease and were developed with a commitment to improving an individual's decision making process for monitoring and treating disease. Myriad is focused on strategic directives to introduce new products, including companion diagnostics, as well as expanding internationally. For more information on how Myriad is making a difference, please visit the Company's website at: www.myriad.com and our social media channels: Twitter and Facebook.

Myriad, the Myriad logo, myRisk are trademarks or registered trademarks of Myriad Genetics, Inc. in the United States and foreign countries. MYGN-F. MYGN-G.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to the ability of Myriad's HRD test to predict response to cisplatin treatment in patients with triple negative breast cancer; the capacity of Myriad's HRD test to precisely target DNA damaging therapy to the patients who are most likely to respond to therapeutic treatment; the potential of the HRD test to support the targeted use of PARPs and other drugs in tumors that exhibit DNA scars; future planned prospective studies to further evaluate the HRD test to predict response to cisplatin treatment; and the Company's strategic directives under the caption "About Myriad Genetics." These "forward-looking statements" are management's present expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those described in the forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to: the risk that sales and profit margins of our existing molecular diagnostic tests and companion diagnostic services may decline or will not continue to increase at historical rates; risks related to changes in the governmental or private insurers reimbursement levels for our tests; the risk that we may be unable to develop or achieve commercial success for additional molecular diagnostic tests and companion diagnostic services in a timely manner, or at all; the risk that we may not successfully develop new markets for our molecular diagnostic tests and companion diagnostic services, including our ability to successfully generate revenue outside the United States; the risk that licenses to the technology underlying our molecular diagnostic tests and companion diagnostic services tests and any future tests are terminated or cannot be maintained on satisfactory terms; risks related to delays or other problems with operating our laboratory testing facilities; risks related to public concern over our genetic testing in general or our tests in particular; risks related to regulatory requirements or enforcement in the United States and foreign countries and changes in the structure of the healthcare system or healthcare payment systems; risks related to our ability to obtain new corporate collaborations or licenses and acquire new technologies or businesses on satisfactory terms, if at all; risks related to our ability to successfully integrate and derive benefits from any technologies or businesses that we license or acquire; risks related to increased competition and the development of new competing tests and services; the risk that we or our licensors may be unable to protect or that third parties will infringe the proprietary technologies underlying our tests; the risk of patent-infringement claims or challenges to the validity of our patents; risks related to changes in intellectual property laws covering our molecular diagnostic tests and companion diagnostic services and patents or enforcement in the United States and foreign countries, such as the Supreme Court decision in the lawsuit brought against us by the Association for Molecular Pathology et al; risks of new, changing and competitive technologies and regulations in the United States and internationally; and other factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" contained in Item 1A of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as any updates to those risk factors filed from time to time in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and Myriad undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.