CAP TODAY Pathology/Laboratory Medicine/Laboratory Management
February 2014—Myriad Genetics announced a research collaboration with BioMarin that will use Myriad’s novel HRD (homologous recombination deficiency) test to identify tumor types that may be sensitive to BioMarin’s investigational product candidate, BMN-673. Specific terms of the deal, the second research collaboration between the partners, were not disclosed.
“The biology of cancer is complicated, and while the analysis of multiple gene targets may identify a subset of patients who will respond to PARP inhibitors, we need a more comprehensive test capable of identifying all patients who may benefit from treatment with PARP inhibitors or DNA damaging agents,” Jerry Lanchbury, PhD, chief scientific officer at Myriad, said in a statement. “While it is impossible to predict all of the genetic causes of DNA repair deficiency, our HRD test solves this problem by measuring the ultimate effect, which presents as a DNA scar.”
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. High HRD scores are prevalent in all breast cancer subtypes and most other major cancers. In previously published data, Myriad’s HRD test predicted drug response to platinum therapy in triple-negative breast cancer patients.
Myriad Genetics, 801-584-3600