The Myriad myRisk® Hereditary Cancer Test Identifies 60 Percent More Deleterious Mutations in Patients with Endometrial Cancer

SALT LAKE CITY, March 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN), a leader in molecular diagnostics and personalized medicine, today announced it will present two important new studies at the 2016 Society for Gynecologic Oncology annual meeting in San Diego, Calif. 

The data demonstrate the ability of the myRisk® Hereditary Cancer test to identify deleterious mutations in patients with endometrial cancer.  Additionally, a different study showed the superior ability of the combined three biomarker myChoice® HRD test to predict survival in patients with platinum treated ovarian cancer.

“Endometrial cancer is the most frequent gynecologic cancer and a significant number of these cases are due to mutations in hereditary cancer genes,” said Johnathan Lancaster, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer, Myriad Genetic Laboratories.  “Our new data show that gene panel testing can identify many more patients with harmful mutations than testing Lynch Syndrome genes alone.  The additional information provided by the myRisk Hereditary Cancer test will help physicians optimize care for their patients.”

Details about the featured Myriad presentations at SGO are below.  Follow Myriad on Twitter via @MyriadGenetics and stay up-to-date with the meeting by using the hashtag #SGOMtg.

myRisk Hereditary Cancer Presentation – Endometrial Cancer

Title: Hereditary cancer panel testing in an unselected endometrial carcinoma cohort.
Date: Saturday, March 19, 2016: 7:50 to 9:55 a.m. PT.
Location: Podium – Abstract 6261.
Presenter: Kari Ring, MD Anderson Cancer Center.

This study evaluated the prevalence of cancer predisposition gene mutations in 381 endometrial cancer patients who had previously undergone tumor testing to screen for Lynch Syndrome.  Patients were tested for mutations in 25 cancer genes using the myRisk Hereditary Cancer test.  The results showed that 9.2 percent of endometrial cancer patients had a deleterious mutation, including 5.8 percent with a mutation in a Lynch Syndrome gene and 3.4 percent in 10 non-Lynch genes.  Multi-gene panel testing with myRisk demonstrated the ability to identify 60 percent more mutations, several of which are associated with ovarian and uterine cancers.  These findings support gene panel testing to identify patients who may be missed by current Lynch Syndrome testing alone.

myChoice HRD Presentation

Title: Homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) score shows superior association with outcome compared to its individual score components (LOH, TAI and LST) in platinum treated serous ovarian cancer.
Date: Saturday, March 19, 2016: 7:50 to 9:55 a.m. PT.
Location: Podium – Abstract 6286.
Presenter: Gordon B. Mills, M.D., Ph.D., MD Anderson Cancer Center.

This study compared the predictive ability of the combined three biomarker myChoice HRD score to the three independent measures of homologous recombination deficiency that comprise the assay including: loss of heterozygosity (LOH) score, telomeric-allelic imbalance (TAI) score, and large-scale state transitions (LST) score.  The results showed that the combined myChoice HRD score predicted progression-free survival (p=2.2×10-6) and overall survival (p=1.0×10-8) in patients with platinum-treated ovarian cancer.  In a bivariate analysis none of the individual biomarkers (LOH, TAI and LST) reached statistical significance for either progression free survival or overall survival.  In this study, myChoice HRD was shown to be a superior predictor of clinical outcomes to any of the individual score components including LOH, TAI and LST.

About Myriad myRisk® Hereditary Cancer Testing
The Myriad myRisk Hereditary Cancer test uses next-generation sequencing technology to evaluate 25 clinically significant genes associated with eight hereditary cancer sites including: breast, colon, ovarian, endometrial, pancreatic, prostate and gastric cancers and melanoma.  For more information visit: myriad.com.

About myChoice® HRD
Myriad’s myChoice HRD is the first homologous recombination deficiency test that can detect when a tumor has lost the ability to repair double-stranded DNA breaks, resulting in increased susceptibility to DNA-damaging drugs such as platinum drugs or PARP inhibitors. High myChoice HRD scores reflective of DNA repair deficiencies are prevalent in all breast cancer subtypes, ovarian and most other major cancers.  In previously published data, Myriad showed that the myChoice HRD test predicted drug response to platinum therapy in certain patients with triple-negative breast and ovarian cancers.  It is estimated that 1.8 million people in the United States and Europe who are diagnosed with cancers annually may be candidates for treatment with DNA-damaging agents.  For more information visit: myriad.com.

About Myriad Genetics
For more than 25 years, Myriad Genetics Inc., has been 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 three strategic imperatives:  transitioning and expanding its hereditary cancer testing markets, diversifying its product portfolio through the introduction of new products and increasing the revenue contribution from international markets.  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, myRisk Hereditary Cancer, myChoice, myPlan, BRACAnalysis CDx, Tumor BRACAnalysis CDx, myChoice HRD, Vectra 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 to data to be presented at the 2016 Society for Gynecologic Oncology annual meeting in San Diego; the additional information provided by the myRisk Hereditary Cancer test helping physicians optimize care for their 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; 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, 2015, 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.

CONTACT: Media Contact:
Ron Rogers			
(908) 285-0248		
rrogers@myriad.com	

Investor Contact:
Scott Gleason
(801) 584-1143
sgleason@myriad.com

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