Myriad Genetics and Personalis Cross-License Foundational MRD Intellectual Property to Broaden Patient Access to Testing
SALT LAKE CITY and FREMONT, Calif., July 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN), a leader in genetic testing and precision medicine, and Personalis, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSNL) today announced that they have entered into an agreement to cross-license patent estates covering tumor-informed approaches to detect minimal residual disease (MRD). The agreement helps solidify each company's freedom to operate in the MRD market and broadens patient access to the benefits of MRD testing.
MRD tests are blood-based diagnostic tools that enable clinicians to monitor therapeutic responses to cancer treatment more closely than with traditional cancer detection technologies, such as imaging, and detect cancer recurrence earlier. While the utilization of MRD testing is nascent, the adoption rate is growing quickly, and the market size is expected to mature to $20 billion over the next several years.
Personalis and Myriad are each pioneering tumor-informed, genome-scale approaches to power ultra-sensitive MRD tests, enabling earlier cancer recurrence detection and more refined therapy monitoring than alternative approaches. Both companies value tumor-informed approaches for cancer patients and have developed deep, foundational patent estates in the field, and each sees the benefits of an ultra-sensitive approach as key to making MRD testing the standard of care.
"Myriad and Personalis are each working to re-define the standard for MRD testing and increasing market access to better inform clinical decision making for the treatment and monitoring of oncology patients," said Paul J. Diaz, President and CEO, Myriad Genetics. "We believe that our unique sets of capabilities and inclusive approach to using intellectual property for the benefit of patients will help drive broader MRD testing adoption, reimbursement, and greatly advance this opportunity for patients in this emerging and under-penetrated market. Myriad's Precise MRD is a tumor-informed, genome-scale MRD test that is part of Precise Oncology Solutions, our expanding portfolio of comprehensive molecular diagnostic tools for oncology detection and treatment."
"Personalis has presented compelling clinical evidence across large lung cancer, breast cancer, and immunotherapy cohorts demonstrating the ability of its NeXT Personal® whole-genome-based MRD platform to drive a leap in performance for patients," said Chris Hall, CEO of Personalis. "We are excited to deepen our collaboration with Myriad by recognizing the importance of our respective patent estates in the field."
About Myriad Genetics
Myriad Genetics is a leading genetic testing and precision medicine company dedicated to advancing health and well-being for all. Myriad Genetics develops and offers genetic tests that help assess the risk of developing disease or disease progression and guide treatment decisions across medical specialties where genetic insights can significantly improve patient care and lower healthcare costs. For more information, visit www.myriad.com.
About Personalis, Inc.
At Personalis, we are transforming the active management of cancer through breakthrough personalized testing. We aim to drive a new paradigm for cancer management, guiding care from biopsy through the life of the patient. Our highly sensitive assays combine tumor-and-normal profiling with proprietary algorithms to deliver advanced insights even as cancer evolves over time. Our products are designed to detect MRD and recurrence at the earliest time points, enable the selection of targeted therapies based on ultra-comprehensive genomic profiling, and enhance biomarker strategy for drug development. Personalis is based in Fremont, California. To learn more, visit www.personalis.com and connect with us on LinkedIn and X (Twitter).
Myriad Genetics Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to the expected benefits of Myriad's collaboration with Personalis, Myriad's freedom to operate in the MRD market, the expected adoption rate and size of the market for MRD testing, Myriad's expanding portfolio of comprehensive molecular diagnostic tools for oncology detection and treatment, and the belief that the companies' unique sets of capabilities and inclusive approach to using intellectual property will help drive MRD testing adoption and reimbursement, broadening patient access to the benefits of MRD testing in the future. These "forward-looking statements" are management's expectations of future events as of the date hereof and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, conditions, and events to differ materially and adversely from those anticipated, including the risks, uncertainties and other factors that relate to Myriad's and Personalis' prosecution and defense of their respective MRD patent estates, the development and clinical effectiveness of Myriad's Precise MRD test, and the adoption and use of Myriad's Precise MRD test by oncologists. Such factors also include those risks described in Myriad's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including Myriad's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on February 28, 2024, and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on May 8, 2024, as well as any updates to those risk factors filed from time to time in Myriad's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K. Myriad is not under any obligation, and it expressly disclaims any obligation, to update or alter any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as required by law.
Personalis Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements in this press release that are not historical are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of U.S. securities laws, including statements relating to the expected benefits of Personalis' collaboration with Myriad, Personalis' freedom to operate in the MRD market, the expected adoption rate and size of the market for MRD testing, the attributes, advantages, sensitivity or clinical relevance of the NeXT Personal platform, and the belief that the companies' unique sets of capabilities and inclusive approach to using intellectual property will help drive MRD testing adoption and reimbursement, broadening patient access to the benefits of MRD testing in the future. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from any anticipated results or expectations expressed or implied by such statements, including the risks, uncertainties and other factors that relate to Personalis' and Myriad's prosecution and defense of their respective MRD patent estates, Personalis' ability to demonstrate attributes, advantages, sensitivity or clinical relevance of the NeXT Personal platform and the adoption and use of the NeXT Personal platform by oncologists. These and other potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results predicted in these forward-looking statements are described under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Personalis' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on February 28, 2024, and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on May 8, 2024. All information provided in this release is as of the date of this press release, and any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable as of this date. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this press release, which are based on information available to Personalis on the date hereof. Personalis undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.
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