Less than two weeks after the Supreme Court struck down its gene patents, Myriad Genetics has moved on, inking an agreement with cancer-focused biopharmaceutical company Tesaro to conduct BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation testing on patients to be enrolled in two separate Phase III clinical studies evaluating the PARP inhibitor niraparib.
Tesaro's two Phase III clinical studies on niraparib include one in platinum-sensitive, high-grade serous ovarian cancer patients, which is planned to begin enrolling patients in mid-2013; the other, involving metastatic breast cancer patients who have germline BRCA mutations, is slated to begin during second half of 2013. Myriad's BRACAnalysis® test, which can be used to detect BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations, will be used as a companion diagnostic to identify patients for these clinical trials.
"We believe this agreement reinforces BRACAnalysis as the gold standard companion diagnostic test for this exciting new class of therapeutics," said Peter Meldrum, president and CEO of Myriad Genetics. "This collaboration is yet another example of Myriad's strong commitment to becoming a leader in the field of companion diagnostics."