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Myriad Genetics' Prolaris Receives Favorable Coverage Policies

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Myriad Genetics, Inc. (MYGN - Free Report) recently announced the receipt of favorable coverage decisions for Prolaris from three new commercial health plans, including one of the top five national health insurance providers. For investors’ note, the first two coverage policies are already in effect since Jun 8 and Jun 15, respectively, while the third will be effective Jul 31.

With this latest feat, Myriad Genetics aims to further strengthen its foothold in the global Molecular Diagnostic testing business.

Prolaris Test at a Glance

Prolaris test, a genetic analysis developed by Myriad Genetics, directly measures tumor cell growth.  The test in combination with both prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and Gleason identifies the extent of severity of a patient’s prostate cancer. Further, PSA and Gleason along with the Prolaris test score provide an evaluation of how aggressively the cancer will advance over the next 10 years.

Notably, PSA and Gleason can only identify the extent of progression of the cancer.

Significance of the Receipt

Per management, the expansion in coverage policies will make Prolaris accessible to more patients. The combination of all the three latest policies will cover around 26 million commercial lives, thus taking the total commercial coverage for Prolaris up to 55 million lives.

Industry Prospects

Per a report by Grand View Research, the global molecular diagnostics market was valued at $9.2 billion in 2019 and is anticipated to reach $18.2 billion by 2027 at a CAGR of 9%. Factors like technological advancements in molecular diagnostics and the growing prevalence of infectious diseases are expected to propel the market.

Given the market potential, the favorable policy coverage is expected to significantly boost the said business.

Recent Developments in Molecular Diagnostics

Of late, Myriad Genetics has been witnessing a slew of developments.

The company, in June, announced the publication of a study in Psychiatry Research, which illustrated the superiority of the GeneSight Psychotropic test at predicting citalopram and escitalopram blood concentrations, unlike single-gene testing.

In the same month, the company announced the publication of a prospective study, which demonstrated that the EndoPredict test predicts which patients with ER+, HER2- early-stage breast cancer will benefit from the neoadjuvant therapy.

In May, the company received the FDA’s approval for its BRACAnalysis CDx test for use as a companion diagnostic by healthcare professionals to identify men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, who are eligible for treatment with Lynparza (olaparib).

Further, in the same month, the company received the FDA’s clearance for its myChoiceCDx test for use as a companion diagnostic by healthcare professionals to identify advanced ovarian cancer patients with positive homologous recombination deficiency status, who are eligible or may become eligible for first-line maintenance treatment with Lynparza (olaparib) in combination with bevacizumab.

Price Performance

Shares of the company have lost 48.1% in the past year against the industry’s 9.8% growth and the S&P 500’s 5.1% rise.



 

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Currently, Myriad Genetics carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader medical space are Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX - Free Report) , Hologic, Inc. (HOLX - Free Report) and QIAGEN N.V. (QGEN - Free Report) .

Quest Diagnostics’ long-term earnings growth rate is projected at 7.6%. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Hologic’s long-term earnings growth rate is estimated at 7%. The company presently has a Zacks Rank #2.

QIAGEN’s long-term earnings growth rate is estimated at 12.2%. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1.

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