SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 15, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN) today announced that a comparative analysis of commercially available prognostic breast cancer tests in patients with early-stage breast cancer has been published in JAMA Oncology.  A key finding is that Myriad’s EndoPredict® (EPClin) significantly outperformed Oncotype DX® Recurrence Score at predicting the risk of disease recurrence in patients with early-stage breast cancer.

In the article, Sestak et al. compared the prognostic value that four different commercial tests add to the Clinical Treatment Score (nodal status, tumor size, grate, age, endocrine treatment) for predicting distant recurrence (0-10 years) and late-distant recurrence (5-10 years) of breast cancer.  The analysis included data from 774 postmenopausal women with ER+/HER2- breast cancer with node-negative disease or up to three positive lymph nodes, which is the most common form of breast cancer.

The results show that in all patients EndoPredict was the best overall test in predicting distant recurrence in years 0-10 (C-index 0.753; LRX2=69.3) and years 5-10 (C-index 0.761; LRX2=41.6).  Importantly, EndoPredict identified the largest group of low-risk patients with 10 years distant recurrence below 10 percent in both node-negative and node-positive disease.  EndoPredict also was a much better predictor for overall distant recurrence and for late-distant recurrence than Oncotype DX Recurrence Score.  The JAMA Oncology publication can be accessed at: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoncol.2017.5524.

“This study demonstrates that EndoPredict, which combines a multigene signature with clinical information, significantly improves the prediction of disease recurrence, specifically in women with node-positive breast cancer,” said Johnathan Lancaster, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer, Myriad Genetics.  “What this means is that EndoPredict can more accurately identify a larger percentage of patients who can safely forgo adjuvant chemotherapy and the associated toxicity.”

These findings are consistent with a previous publication in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, which also found that EndoPredict was superior to Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score in predicting the long-term recurrence of ER+, HER2- primary breast cancer.

Additionally, at the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in December, the Company presented new predictive data that demonstrated women with a high EndoPredict score responded better to neoadjuvant chemotherapy than those with a low score, while those with a low score responded better to neoadjuvant endocrine therapy. 

“We are committed to saving and improving the lives of women with breast cancer, and making sure patients are benefitting from the latest advances in personalized medicine,” said Lancaster.  “Our expanding body of evidence strongly supports the use of EndoPredict to aid in clinical decisions regarding the use of chemotherapy and extended endocrine therapy.”

EndoPredict is widely accessible and is covered by more than 90 percent of health insurance plans in the United States.  It also is available in several major European markets. For more information, please visit: www.endopredict.com.

Follow Myriad on Twitter via @MyriadGenetics to stay informed about news and updates from the Company.

Medical Policy Update
One of the largest private insurers in the United States has expanded its coverage policy on EndoPredict.  The new policy supports the use of EndoPredict to aid in the controversial decision of whether or not to extend adjuvant hormonal therapy beyond five years of treatment.

“I applaud payers for recognizing the importance of biomarkers to help physicians and patients make important decisions about whether or not to use extended endocrine therapy out to 10 years,” said Joyce A. O’Shaughnessy, M.D., Celebrating Women Chair in Breast Cancer Research, Baylor University Medical Center, and Chair of Breast Cancer Research at Texas Oncology.  “This is another important step toward making personalized medicine a reality for all patients with breast cancer.” 

About Breast Cancer
One in eight American women will have breast cancer during her lifetime. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among American women.  The American Cancer Society estimates in its Cancer Facts & Figures 2018 report that more than 250,000 women will be told they have breast cancer in 2018.  Currently, there are nearly 3.5 million American women living with the disease and every 13 minutes another American woman dies from breast cancer. That’s a little more than 40,000 this year.

About EndoPredict
EndoPredict is a second-generation, multigene prognostic test that aids personalized treatment planning for patients with early stage breast cancer.  EndoPredict has been validated in approximately 4,000 patients with node-negative and node-positive disease and has been used clinically in more than 20,000 patients.  In contrast to first-generation multigene prognostic tests, EndoPredict accurately predicts the likelihood of both early (0-5 years) and late distant recurrence (5-10 years). Thus, EndoPredict can guide treatment decisions on both the need for chemotherapy, as well as extended endocrine therapy.  For more information, please visit: www.endopredict.com.

About Myriad Genetics
Myriad Genetics Inc., is a leading personalized medicine company dedicated to being a trusted advisor transforming patient lives worldwide with pioneering molecular diagnostics.  Myriad discovers and commercializes molecular diagnostic tests that: determine the risk of developing disease, accurately diagnose disease, assess the risk of disease progression, and guide treatment decisions across six major medical specialties where molecular diagnostics can significantly improve patient care and lower healthcare costs.  Myriad is focused on five strategic imperatives:  build upon a solid hereditary cancer foundation, growing new product volume, expanding reimbursement coverage for new products, increasing RNA kit revenue internationally and improving profitability with Elevate 2020.  For more information on how Myriad is making a difference, please visit the Company’s website: www.myriad.com.

Myriad, the Myriad logo, BART, BRACAnalysis, Colaris, Colaris AP, myPath, myRisk, Myriad myRisk, myRisk Hereditary Cancer, myChoice, myPlan, BRACAnalysis CDx, Tumor BRACAnalysis CDx, myChoice HRD, EndoPredict, Vectra, GeneSight, riskScore and Prolaris are trademarks or registered trademarks of Myriad Genetics, Inc. or its wholly owned subsidiaries 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 related the ability of EndoPredict to identify a larger percentage of patients who can safely forgo adjunctive chemotherapy and the associated toxicity; the significant improvement EndoPredict provides in the prediction of disease recurrence, specifically in women with node-positive breast cancer; a national payer’s expanded coverage policy on EndoPredict; and the Company’s strategic directives under the captions “About BRACAnalysis CDx,” and “About Myriad Genetics.”  These “forward-looking statements” are based on management’s current 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 set forth in or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the risk that sales and profit margins of our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services may decline; risks related to our ability to transition from our existing product portfolio to our new tests, including unexpected costs and delays; risks related to decisions or changes in governmental or private insurers’ reimbursement levels for our tests or our ability to obtain reimbursement for our new tests at comparable levels to our existing tests; risks related to increased competition and the development of new competing tests and services; the risk that we may be unable to develop or achieve commercial success for additional molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services in a timely manner, or at all; the risk that we may not successfully develop new markets for our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical 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 pharmaceutical and clinical services and any future tests and services are terminated or cannot be maintained on satisfactory terms; risks related to delays or other problems with operating our laboratory testing facilities and our healthcare clinic; risks related to public concern over 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 our projections about our business, results of operations and financial condition; risks related to the potential market opportunity for our products 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 or other intellectual property; risks related to changes in intellectual property laws covering our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical 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 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2016, which has been 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.

Media Contact:        Ron Rogers                                Investor Contact:     Scott Gleason
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