Myriad Genetics, Inc., has announced that Tesaro, Inc., will use Myriad's novel HRD (homologous recombination deficiency) test to identify tumor types that may respond to its investigational poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, niraparib, currently in Phase 3 clinical development. The research agreement with Tesaro is Myriad's fifth collaboration with a major pharmaceutical company to evaluate HRD.
Myriad's proprietary HRD test detects when a tumor has lost the ability to repair double-stranded DNA breaks, resulting in increased susceptibility to DNA-damaging drugs. High HRD scores are prevalent in all breast cancer subtypes and most other major cancers. In previously published data, Myriad showed that the HRD test predicted drug response to platinum therapy in triple-negative breast cancer patients. It is estimated that 490,000 people in the United States who are diagnosed with cancers annually are candidates for treatment with DNA-damaging agents.
“The biology of cancer is complex, and increasingly the goal of oncology is to use a companion diagnostic to pair a tumor type with the targeted activity of a specific medicine. Prior studies have shown that only a subset of patients will respond to PARP inhibitors. HRD is the most comprehensive test to identify those patients who might respond to treatment,” says Jerry Lanchbury, PhD, chief scientific officer at Myriad. “The HRD test is engineered to look for evidence of genomic disrepair, which appears as a DNA scar. We believe using the HRD test may capture an enhanced number of responders to treatment with the exciting new class of PARP inhibitors.” Learn more about solutions provided by Myriad Genetics.
