Myriad’s BRAC Analysis CDx test will be used to identify prospective patients of metastatic pancreatic cancer who could respond to AstraZeneca’s Lynparza

AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN) and Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN) have announced to expand their companion diagnostic (CDx) collaboration for enhancing focus on various forms of cancer.

As per the terms of the expanded collaboration, the combined companies’ efforts will be used to benefit from the BRAC Analysis CDx test, developed by Utah-based Myriad, for identifying prospective patients of metastatic pancreatic cancer who could potentially respond to treatment with AstraZeneca’s Lynparza.

Lynparza, also known by its chemical name olaparib, works as an orally active PARP (poly-ADP ribose polymerase) inhibitor and targets the deficiencies of DNA repair pathway of various tumors in order to kill tumor cells. Olaparib was first approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December last year, as a first-line monotherapy option for women suffering from deleterious germline BRCA-mutated (gBRCAm) form of advanced ovarian cancer, who had also received three or more prior therapies.

To advance the success of its first ever PARP inhibitor to be approved by the FDA, AstraZeneca has been trying to expand its label for various indications including the most deadly cancers; the company currently has late-stage trials underway for testing the regimen’s efficacy for treating BRCA-mutated pancreatic cancer, adjuvant and metastatic BRCA-mutated breast cancers, as well as second-line gastric cancer.

The current expansion in collaboration with Myriad is expected to boost the success of AstraZeneca’s Lynparza in the area of pancreatic cancer. Currently almost 48,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer are diagnosed each year, with approximately 40,000 patients dying annually from the debilitating form of cancer in the US alone.

Mark Capone, president at Myriad Genetic Laboratories, seemed positive about the expanded collaboration with AstraZeneca, saying: "Pancreatic cancer is one of the few cancers for which survival has not improved substantially in the last 40 years, and the average life expectancy after diagnosis with metastatic disease is three to six months. Our collaboration with AstraZeneca is a big step forward in the fight against pancreatic cancer and in ensuring that personalized medicine becomes reality. BRAC Analysis CDx has the potential to quickly and accurately identify those patients who may be candidates for treatment with Lynparza and hopefully to accelerate better health outcomes," as per the press release by the company on Wednesday.

Myriad’s BRAC Analysis CDx was first approved in December last year to be used as a companion diagnostic for Lynparza in ovarian cancer patients. It became the first ever complex laboratory developed test (LDT) to be approved by the FDA under a pre-market approval application process. This was also the first regulatory approval for any LDT CDx test. BRAC Analysis CDx works as an in-vitro diagnostic device and uses genomic DNA taken from whole blood samples to identify various forms of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

AstraZeneca shares traded up 0.53% to close at $68.79 on Wednesday. Myriad stock, on the other hand, was down 1.78% and closed at $34.77 yesterday.