Myriad Genetics (MYGN) presented preliminary results from a study conducted on breast cancer patients at the ASCO Breast Cancer Symposium. The study found that the incidence of BRCA germline mutations is higher in women with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Consequently, the need to screen women with TNBC is higher thereby increasing the importance of Bracanalysis testing.
Myriad’s Bracanalysis provides a comprehensive analysis of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes for assessing a woman’s risk of contracting hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. It has been observed that a patient, on testing positive, has a higher probability of developing breast cancer (82%) and ovarian cancer (44%). At present, Bracanalysis is recommended for women suffering from TNBC (which is difficult to treat) and are under 45 years or who are at higher risk of developing the disease.
The study was conducted on 77 TNBC patients, not meeting the above-mentioned conditions, was analyzed with the Bracanalysis test. It was observed that 18% of the patients had the harmful germline mutations in either BRCA1 or BRCA2. In addition, 43% of these patients (with mutations) did not meet the current criteria for Bracanalysis testing. Myriad’s patient base is expected to increase manifold if further studies also confirm the preliminary data. In the US, every year, approximately 35,000 women are diagnosed with TNBC and it has been observed that BRCA1 mutations are more associated with this form of breast cancer.
According to Myriad’s estimates, the oncology market for Bracanalysis is huge. Approximately, 70% of revenues from this test are derived from the oncology segment, while the rest comes from the Ob/Gyn (Woman’s health) or asymptomatic screening sector. In the last reported quarter, Myriad reported a 9% increase in revenues to $93.9 million, with Oncology revenues (up 7%) of $67.2 million and Woman’s health revenues (up 16%) of $26.7 million. Bracanalysis remained the largest test for Myriad with an 88% contribution ($82.5 million) to its top line.
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