Adjusted Vectra Test Is Up to Five Times More Effective for Predicting Radiographic Progression in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis than Traditional Measures
SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN), a global leader in personalized medicine, today announced the results from a large commercial cohort and several clinical studies on development of the adjusted Vectra® score that were published in the journal Rheumatology. The key findings are that the adjusted Vectra score significantly outperformed conventional measures of disease activity in predicting radiographic progression (new joint damage) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
“This study showed that the adjusted Vectra score was the strongest individual predictor of new radiographic joint damage over one year in patients with RA,” said Jerry Lanchbury, Ph.D., chief scientific officer, Myriad Genetics. “In these analyses, the adjusted Vectra score was three times more predictive of radiographic joint damage than DAS28-CRP and five times more predictive than DAS28* and was significantly better than other disease activity measures commonly used by clinicians today.”
This large study included a cohort of more than 300,000 commercially tested patients with RA and 1,411 RA patients from a clinical trial/registry cohort. An adjusted Vectra DA score was developed to account for three factors known to impact inflammation: age, gender, and degree of adiposity proxied either by serum leptin level or body mass index (BMI). In addition, the adjusted Vectra scores were evaluated for their ability to predict radiographic progression (RP) and compared with other disease activity measures, including DAS28, DAS28-CRP, SDAI, and CDAI.
The results showed that the leptin-adjusted Vectra score was 5.5 times more predictive of radiographic progression, the BMI-adjusted Vectra score was 4.6 times more predictive, and the original Vectra score was four times more predictive when compared to DAS28. Importantly, Vectra also outperformed the other common measures evaluated in this study (Chart 1).
A chart accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/19e6ca49-b384-4056-848e-66bca3e7ed1d
“The Vectra test allows one to identify patients with a high degree of inflammatory activity, which can lead to join damage progression,” said Elena Hitraya, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer, Myriad Autoimmune. “This study showed that the adjusted Vectra score significantly improved ability to predict radiographic progression and thus, it provides valuable information to clinicians that they can incorporate into the individual patient treatment plans”.
About Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that mainly attacks the body’s joints, leading to significant morbidity and financial burden. Approximately 60 percent of people with inadequately treated RA are unable to work 10 years after onset. The American College of Rheumatology estimates that RA affects 1.3 million people in the United States.
About Vectra
Vectra is a multi-biomarker molecular blood test that provides an objective and personalized measure of inflammatory disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Vectra demonstrates unsurpassed ability to predict radiographic progression and guides medical management decisions to improve patient outcomes. Vectra testing is performed at a state-of-the-art CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) facility. Test results are reported to the physician five to seven days from shipping of the specimen. Physicians can receive test results by fax or the private web portal, VectraView. For more information on Vectra, please visit: www.vectrada.com.
About Myriad Genetics
Myriad Genetics Inc., is a leading personalized medicine company dedicated to being a trusted advisor transforming patient lives worldwide with pioneering molecular diagnostics. Myriad discovers and commercializes molecular diagnostic tests that: determine the risk of developing disease, accurately diagnose disease, assess the risk of disease progression, and guide treatment decisions across six major medical specialties where molecular diagnostics can significantly improve patient care and lower healthcare costs. Myriad is focused on five strategic imperatives: build upon a solid hereditary cancer foundation, growing new product volume, expanding reimbursement coverage for new products, increasing RNA kit revenue internationally and improving profitability with Elevate 2020. For more information on how Myriad is making a difference, please visit the Company’s website: www.myriad.com.
Myriad, the Myriad logo, BART, BRACAnalysis, Colaris, Colaris AP, myPath, myRisk, Myriad myRisk, myRisk Hereditary Cancer, myChoice, myPlan, BRACAnalysis CDx, Tumor BRACAnalysis CDx, myChoice HRD, EndoPredict, Vectra, GeneSight, riskScore Prolaris, ForeSight and Prelude are trademarks or registered trademarks of Myriad Genetics, Inc. or its wholly owned subsidiaries in the United States and foreign countries. MYGN-F, MYGN-G.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements related to results of the study published in the journal Rheumatology; the adjusted Vectra score significantly outperforming conventional measures of disease activity in predicting radiographic progression (new joint damage) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis; the adjusted Vectra score being three times more predictive of radiographic joint damage than DAS28-CRP and five times more predictive than DAS28* and significantly better than other disease activity measures commonly used by clinicians today; the adjusted Vectra score being the strongest individual predictor of new radiographic joint damage over one year in patients with RA; the Vectra test allowing one to identify patients with a high degree of inflammatory activity, which can lead to join damage progression; the adjusted Vectra score significantly improved ability to predict radiographic progression and providing valuable information to clinicians that they can incorporate into the individual patient treatment plans; the Company’s ongoing commitment to proving rheumatologists with valuable information about a patient’s disease activity that can help direct treatment strategies and improve patient outcomes; and the Company’s strategic directives under the caption “About Myriad Genetics.” These “forward-looking statements” are based on management’s current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the risk that sales and profit margins of our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services may decline; risks related to our ability to transition from our existing product portfolio to our new tests, including unexpected costs and delays; risks related to decisions or changes in governmental or private insurers’ reimbursement levels for our tests or our ability to obtain reimbursement for our new tests at comparable levels to our existing tests; risks related to increased competition and the development of new competing tests and services; the risk that we may be unable to develop or achieve commercial success for additional molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services in a timely manner, or at all; the risk that we may not successfully develop new markets for our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services, including our ability to successfully generate revenue outside the United States; the risk that licenses to the technology underlying our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services and any future tests and services are terminated or cannot be maintained on satisfactory terms; risks related to delays or other problems with operating our laboratory testing facilities and our healthcare clinic; risks related to public concern over genetic testing in general or our tests in particular; risks related to regulatory requirements or enforcement in the United States and foreign countries and changes in the structure of the healthcare system or healthcare payment systems; risks related to our ability to obtain new corporate collaborations or licenses and acquire new technologies or businesses on satisfactory terms, if at all; risks related to our ability to successfully integrate and derive benefits from any technologies or businesses that we license or acquire; risks related to our projections about our business, results of operations and financial condition; risks related to the potential market opportunity for our products and services; the risk that we or our licensors may be unable to protect or that third parties will infringe the proprietary technologies underlying our tests; the risk of patent-infringement claims or challenges to the validity of our patents or other intellectual property; risks related to changes in intellectual property laws covering our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services and patents or enforcement in the United States and foreign countries, such as the Supreme Court decision in the lawsuit brought against us by the Association for Molecular Pathology et al; risks of new, changing and competitive technologies and regulations in the United States and internationally; the risk that we may be unable to comply with financial operating covenants under our credit or lending agreements; the risk that we will be unable to pay, when due, amounts due under our credit or lending agreements; and other factors discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” contained in Item 1A of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as any updates to those risk factors filed from time to time in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and Myriad undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.
Media Contact:
Ron Rogers
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rrogers@myriad.com
Investor Contact:
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