SALT LAKE CITY, March 26, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (MYGN) today announced that it has signed an agreement with PharmaMar, a leader in the development of marine-derived drugs. Under the terms of the agreement, Myriad will conduct homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) testing on patients enrolled in PharmaMar's Phase II clinical study of PM1183, a novel drug candidate which induces double-stranded DNA breaks to cause cell death. This partnership represents Myriad Genetics' first publicly announced commercial collaboration with its new HRD test.

"We are very pleased to collaborate with PharmaMar on their PM1183 development program with our new HRD test," said Peter Meldrum, President and Chief Executive Officer of Myriad Genetics, Inc. "We believe HRD status is the most effective mechanism for assessing patient response to DNA-damaging drugs and look forward to working closely with PharmaMar on this exciting new companion diagnostic program."

Myriad's HRD test is able to detect when a tumor has lost the ability to repair DNA damage and would therefore be more susceptible to the DNA-damaging classes of drugs. The test directly measures the end result of the loss of the DNA repair function regardless of the genomic causation. The HRD test is effective at detecting the loss of function irrespective of whether the defects in the genes involved in the DNA repair mechanism were caused by hereditary germ line mutations or somatic mutations accumulated during the patient's life.

Myriad's HRD test has been shown to accurately predict drug response in both ovarian cancer patients and triple negative breast cancer patients. It is estimated that 490,000 Americans are diagnosed with cancers each year that are eligible for treatment with DNA damaging classes of drugs. This represents a one to two billion dollar market opportunity for the HRD test in the United States alone.

Under the terms of the agreement, Myriad will assess HRD status in patients who have been treated with PM1183 in PharmaMar's Phase II clinical study. Utilizing this information, Myriad and PharmaMar will hope to garner more information surrounding the role of HRD status in PM1183 response.

About PharmaMar

PharmaMar is a biopharmaceutical subsidiary of Grupo Zeltia; it is a world leader in discovering, developing and selling marine-based drugs to treat cancer. Yondelis(R) is Spain's first antitumour drug. Yondelis(R) is currently approved for soft tissue sarcoma (STS) in 42 countries outside the EEA, and for platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer (ROC) in 31 of those countries plus Brazil. Yondelis(R) is approved for STS and platinum-sensitive ROC in all 30 countries of the EEA. Yondelis(R) is also undergoing Phase II trials on breast and paediatric cancers. PharmaMar has four other compounds in clinical development: Aplidin(R), PM01183, Zalypsis(R) and PM060184. PharmaMar also has a rich pipeline of pre-clinical candidates and a major R&D program. For more information, please visit the Company's website: http://www.pharmamar.com

About Myriad Genetics

Myriad Genetics is a leading molecular diagnostic company dedicated to making a difference in patients' lives through the discovery and commercialization of transformative tests to assess a person's risk of developing disease, guide treatment decisions and assess risk of disease progression and recurrence. Myriad's portfolio of molecular diagnostic tests are based on an understanding of the role genes play in human disease and were developed with a commitment to improving an individual's decision making process for monitoring and treating disease. Myriad is focused on strategic directives to introduce new products, including companion diagnostics, as well as expanding internationally. For more information on how Myriad is making a difference, please visit the Company's website: http://www.myriad.com.

Myriad, the Myriad logo, BART, BRACAnalysis, Colaris, Colaris AP, Melaris, TheraGuide, Prezeon, OnDose, Panexia and Prolaris are trademarks or registered trademarks of Myriad Genetics, Inc. in the United States and foreign countries. MYGN-G

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Myriad and PharmaMar Announce First Commercial Partnership With Myriad's New HRD Test

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