Myriad Genetics Announces Regulatory Approval of the BRACAnalysis® Diagnostic System in Japan for Breast Cancer Patients

SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 21, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN), a leader in molecular diagnostics and precision medicine, announced that Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has approved the BRACAnalysis^® Diagnostic System (i.e., “BRACAnalysis”) to help physicians determine which women with breast cancer have Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) syndrome and qualify for additional medical management. BRACAnalysis is a genetic test that identifies germline mutations in the BRCA1/2 genes.  

“We are excited that the MHLW has approved the BRACAnalysis Diagnostic System for HBOC risk assessment in patients with breast cancer,” said Seigo Nakamura, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chairman, Department of Surgery, Division of Breast Surgical Oncology and Director, Breast Center of Showa University Hospital in Tokyo and president of the Japanese Organization of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (JOHBOC). “Our goal is to use the BRACAnalysis test to identify patients with BRCA mutations and determine who will benefit from more advanced medical care.”

Under the MHLW decision, physicians may use BRACAnalysis to test for BRCA mutations in women with breast cancer who meet the genetic testing guidelines defined by JOHBOC. Those patients who test positive for a deleterious BRCA mutation will be eligible to receive advanced medical management, such as prophylactic surgery or targeted therapies. 

“Myriad’s BRACAnalysis test is the gold standard for BRCA testing. The approval of BRACAnalysis for HBOC risk assessment in Japan is further validation of the quality and utility of our pioneering genetic test,” said Gary A. King, executive vice president of International Operations, Myriad Genetics. “We look forward to working with our commercial partners in Japan to ensure that BRACAnalysis is available to patients.” 

Myriad has an exclusive partnership with SRL Inc., a subsidiary of Miraca Group, to commercialize the BRACAnalysis Diagnostic System in Japan. 

Today’s announcement follows two prior regulatory approvals for the BRACAnalysis Diagnostic System in Japan. In February 2019, BRACAnalysis was approved as a companion diagnostic for Lynparza^® (olaparib) in women with ovarian cancer, and in March 2018, it was approved as a companion diagnostic for Lynparza in patients with metastatic inoperable or recurrent breast cancer. 

About the BRACAnalysis^® Diagnostic System
BRACAnalysis is a diagnostic system that classifies a patient’s clinically significant variants (DNA sequence variations) in the germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.  Variants are classified into one of the five categories; “Deleterious,” “Suspected Deleterious,” “Variant of Uncertain Significance,” “Favor Polymorphism,” or “Polymorphism.” Once the classification is completed, the results are sent to medical personnel in Japan for determining the eligibility of patients for treatment with Lynparza. 

About SRL
Since the establishment in 1970, SRL, Inc., a member of the Miraca Group, Japan-based leading healthcare group, has been providing comprehensive testing services as the largest commercial clinical laboratory in Japan.  SRL carries out nearly 400,000,000 tests per year, covering a wide range of testing services including general/emergency testing, esoteric/research testing, companion diagnostics tests, genomic analysis, and etc. For more information, please visit https://www.srl-group.co.jp/english/.

About Myriad Genetics
Myriad Genetics Inc., is a leading precision 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 critical success factors:  building 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 CDx, EndoPredict, Vectra, GeneSight, riskScore, Prolaris, ForeSight and Prequel 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.

Lynparza is a registered trademark of AstraZeneca.

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 Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) marketing approval of the company’s BRACAnalysis Diagnostic System to identify patients with breast cancer who would be eligible for additional medical management; the Company working with commercial partners in Japan to ensure that BRACAnalysis is available to patients; and the Company's strategic directives under the caption "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; the risk that we may be unable to comply with financial operating covenants under our credit or lending agreements;  the risk that we will be unable to pay, when due, amounts due under our credit or lending agreements; 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, 2019, 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             
(801) 584-3065        
[email protected]

Investor Contact:       
Scott Gleason
(801) 584-1143
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