NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Myriad Genetics announced today that it has received positive coverage determinations for its EndoPredict breast cancer test from five Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliate plans.
EndoPredict is a kit-based RNA expression test that evaluates 12 genes to assess the aggressiveness of breast cancer on a molecular level. It combines gene expression profiling on a quantitative real-time PCR platform with standard prognostic factors. It was added to Myriad's product pipeline through its mid-2016 acquisition of Sividon Diagnostics.
According to Myriad, the test is now covered by Independence Blue Cross; Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas; Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City; Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey; and BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. These plans collectively provide coverage for 12 million patients in the US, bringing the total number of individuals for whom the test is covered to 32 million, the company said.
Myriad aims to launch EndoPredict in the US in the first half of 2017.Â
"We are excited to see that payers are increasingly recognizing the level and quality of clinical evidence supporting the EndoPredict test for patients with breast cancer," Myriad Genetics Laboratories Chief Medical Officer Johnathan Lancaster said in a statement, noting that EndoPredict "markedly outperformed" Oncotype Dx in a large, head-to-head study presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in December.
Myriad also said that Evidence Street — which provides technical assessments of medical technologies for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association — recently found that EndoPredict results in a "meaningful improvement in the net health outcomes in node-negative breast cancer patients."