NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – AstraZeneca will use Myriad Genetics' myChoice HRD Plus diagnostic panel in a clinical trial to identify advanced ovarian cancer patients who respond best to maintenance treatment with a combination of its PARP inhibitor Lynparza (olaparib) and Avastin (bevacizumab).
Myriad's myChoice HRD test detects whether patients have somatic mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes and harbor "genomic scars" caused by molecular changes, including heterozygosity loss, telomeric allelic imbalance, and large-scale state transitions. MyChoice HRD Plus — the test AstraZeneca is using in the Lynparza/Avastin development program — also gauges mutations in 102 genes.
AstraZeneca and Myriad have partnered on drug/diagnostic codevelopment programs before. In 2014, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Myriad's BRACAnalysis CDx for identifying ovarian cancer patients considering fourth-line treatment with Lynparza. Myriad also submitted a supplementary premarket approval application with the FDA last year for BRACAnalysis CDx as a test that can identify metastatic breast cancer patients who are most likely to respond to the PARP inhibitor.
Lynparza monotherapy is already approved as a maintenance treatment for recurrent, epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer for patients responsive to platinum chemotherapy, but regardless of BRCA mutation status. Myriad had previously indicated that AstraZeneca was evaluating the myChoice HRD Plus test in an exploratory study involving Lynparza.
Financial terms for this new collaboration were not disclosed.