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Myriad Genetics Boosts myRisk Hereditary Cancer Test Suite

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Myriad Genetics, Inc. (MYGN - Free Report) introduced riskScore under its myRisk Hereditary Cancer testing portfolio. The launch is aimed at solidifying the company’s footprint in the rapidly growing hereditary cancer testing market. Based in Salt Lake City, UT, this leading molecular diagnostics and personalized medicines provider intends to make riskScore a precision medical tool for patients who use myRisk to get their tests done.

Notably, riskScore helps determine a woman's risk of developing breast cancer by combining genetic markers throughout the genome with the patient’s family and clinical history.

Per management, this highly advanced prediction tool will also aid 90% of the patients with negative results for heredity cancer genes to derive proper conclusions.

In June, the company had presented encouraging data from a 2,000-patient clinical study with myRisk Hereditary Cancer testsat the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). The results highlighted the importance of the multi-gene panel testing for advancement of the hereditary cancer-risk evaluation platform. Per management, around 50% of the identified mutations were found in patients who did not comply with the testing guidelines. The study also found 34% of identified mutations in unexpected genes.

Myriad Genetics has been riding high on strength in the Heriditary Cancer testing space. In the last reported quarter, the company saw 6% year-over-year rise in Heriditary Cancer testing volumes, marking the third consecutive quarter of sequential growth.

Per a report by DPI Research on Medium, the breast cancer screening market in the United States is expected to reach a value of roughly $5.8 billion by 2022. Moreover, per an article by BrestCancer.Org, approximately 252,710 new cases of invasive breast cancer in women are likely to be diagnosed in the United States in 2017. They also project 63,410 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer this year as well.

We believe an ageing population, rising awareness and expenditure in healthcare will continue to drive growth in the breast cancer screening market. However, this market is dominated by many well established players, Quest Diagnostics (DGX - Free Report) being the most prominent one. In this space, Quest Diagnostics’ Quest Vantage services help in the discovery of genetic variants related to the hereditary risk of 15 types of cancer, including breast, colorectal, pancreatic and renal.

Moreover, Myriad Genetics has been gaining investor confidence on consistently positive results. Over the past three months, the company’s share price has outperformed the broader industry. The stock has gained 41%, higher than the broader industry’s 12.6%. The company has also outperformed the 0.7% gain of the S&P 500 market over the same time frame.

 

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Myriad Genetics carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A couple of better-ranked medical stocks are Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (EW - Free Report) and Lantheus Holdings, Inc. (LNTH - Free Report) . Edwards Lifesciences sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while Lantheus Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Edwards Lifesciences has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 15.2%. The stock has rallied roughly 23.6% over the last six months.

Lantheus Holdings has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 12.5%. The stock has gained 30.2% over the last six months.

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