Myriad Genetics Announces Enhancements to the GeneSight® Test to Personalize Mental Health Medication Treatment Decisions Based on Smoking Status

By: Myriad Genetics, Inc. via GlobeNewswire

August 07, 2023 at 16:05 PM EDT

SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 07, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN), a leader in genetic testing and precision medicine, announced enhancements to the GeneSight^® Psychotropic test, a pharmacogenomic test for mental health medications. The GeneSight report will now include information on how a patient's smoking status may impact their body's metabolism of certain medications.

Many factors may influence medication outcomes in addition to genetics. Smoking is one of those factors as it can increase the activity of CYP1A2 – a gene involved in the metabolism of several mental health medications – in patients who have the highly inducible CYP1A2 variant.

For roughly 91% of patients with the CYP1A2 variant, the categorization and information provided for certain medications can be affected by smoking status.¹ Smoking on the GeneSight report is defined as the daily inhalation of burning plant material (such as cigarettes and marijuana). Vaping and e-cigarettes are not included.

Approximately a third of the medications on the GeneSight report have CYP1A2 involvement, which means they have the potential to be categorized differently based on a patient’s smoking status. These 23 medications include several antidepressants, anxiolytics and hypnotics, and antipsychotics.

“Taking smoking status into consideration helps ensure the test provides an even more complete picture of patients’ potential outcomes with certain medications,” said Holly Johnson, Ph.D., director of Medical Affairs, Myriad Genetics. “This update was made based on a comprehensive analysis of peer-reviewed literature and our continued commitment to provide clinicians with genetic insights from the GeneSight test to help inform treatment decisions.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the prevalence of smoking cigarettes in patients who have depression or mental health symptoms is higher than the general population. In fact, the American Lung Association states that “lifetime smoking rates are higher in patients who are diagnosed with major depression disorder (59%).” Daily or near daily usage of marijuana is two times higher in individuals with depression compared to those without it.² Nearly 80% of marijuana usage is through smoking.³

The updated test is available immediately for prescribing clinicians. For more information, please visit https://genesight.com/for-clinicians/.

About the GeneSight Test
The GeneSight Psychotropic test from Myriad Genetics is the category-leading pharmacogenomic test for 64 medications commonly prescribed for depression, anxiety, ADHD, and other psychiatric conditions. The GeneSight test can help inform clinicians about how a patient’s genes may impact how they metabolize and/or respond to certain psychiatric medications. Tens of thousands of clinicians have ordered the GeneSight test for more than two million patients in order to receive genetic information that is unique to each patient. The GeneSight test supplements other information considered by a clinician as part of a comprehensive medical assessment. Learn more at GeneSight.com.

About Myriad Genetics
Myriad Genetics is a leading genetic testing and precision medicine company dedicated to advancing health and well-being for all. Myriad develops and offers genetic tests that help assess the risk of developing disease or disease progression and guide treatment decisions across medical specialties where genetic insights can significantly improve patient care and lower healthcare costs. For more information, visit www.myriad.com.

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including that the GeneSight test report will now include information on how a patient's smoking status may impact their body's metabolism of certain medications. These “forward-looking statements” are management’s expectations of future events as of the date hereof and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, conditions, and events to differ materially and adversely from those anticipated. Such factors include those risks described in the company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 1, 2023, as well as any updates to those risk factors filed from time to time in the company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K. Myriad is not under any obligation, and it expressly disclaims any obligation, to update or alter any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as required by law.

[1] Frequency is based on internal Myriad Neuroscience data of over 2.1 million tested patients

[2} Gorfinkel, Lauren R et al. (2020). “Association of Depression With Past-Month Cannabis Use Among US Adults Aged 20 to 59 Years, 2005 to 2016.” JAMA network open vol. 3,8 e2013802

[3] Dai, H. and K.P. Richter. (2019). "A National Survey of Marijuana Use Among US Adults with Medical Conditions." JAMA Network Open, 2(9):e1911936

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