GeneSight Psychotropic Test’s Combinatorial Approach Proves Better than Single-Gene Testing at Predicting Patient Outcomes and Medication Blood Levels

New Analysis Published in Psychiatry Research

SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN), a leader in genetic testing and precision medicine, announced today the peer-reviewed journal has published a new analysis showing the combinatorial approach available in the GeneSight^® Psychotropic test is better than single-gene testing at predicting patient outcomes and medication blood levels.

Myriad’s GeneSight test evaluates how variations in multiple genes may influence an individual’s outcomes with certain FDA-approved medications commonly prescribed to treat depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric conditions.

Using data from the Genomics Used to Improve DEpression Decisions (GUIDED) randomized-controlled trial, the study evaluated the ability of the combinatorial approach available in the GeneSight Psychotropic test to predict patient outcomes and medication blood levels compared to Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium^® (CPIC) single-gene recommendations. CPIC recommendations are based on either CYP2C19 and CYP2D6, which are genes that are involved in how the body metabolizes medications commonly used to treat depression and other mental illnesses.

The study included two types of analyses:

1. Patient Outcomes – The largest improvement in symptoms and the highest response and remission rates were observed for patients who were changed from medications with significant gene-drug interactions to medications with no or moderate gene-drug interactions indicated by the combinatorial GeneSight test.
2. Medication Blood Levels – The analysis of the combinatorial pharmacogenomic test and single-gene guidelines showed the predictive ability of the GeneSight combinatorial approach was better.

“Our analysis demonstrated the superior ability of combinatorial pharmacogenetic testing to predict variation in medication blood levels may result in improved patient outcomes,” said lead author Anthony J. Rothschild, MD, the Irving S. and Betty Brudnick Endowed Chair and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. “We believe this study provides compelling evidence of the clinical validity of the combinatorial pharmacogenomic test for patients with major depressive disorder, who have at least one prior medication failure.”

“This analysis demonstrates that the combinatorial approach of the GeneSight test more accurately predicts blood drug levels and identifies more patients with significant gene-drug interactions who would be missed by single-gene testing,” said Dr. Mark Pollack, chief medical officer, Myriad Neuroscience. “Combinatorial pharmacogenomics like the GeneSight test should become the standard-of-care to help physicians understand gene-drug interactions that could improve care for people with depression, anxiety and other conditions.”

This is the evaluating the combinatorial approach of the GeneSight test to be published in Psychiatry Research. The earlier study, published in May 2020, demonstrated the combinatorial approach available in the GeneSight Psychotropic test was better at predicting citalopram and escitalopram blood concentrations when compared to single-gene testing.

The GUIDED study, the largest pharmacogenomic randomized controlled trial in mental health, showed that patients whose doctors received GeneSight results had significantly improved response and remission rates from depression, compared to treatment as usual.

About Myriad Neuroscience

Myriad Neuroscience is a business unit of Myriad Genetics, Inc., (NASDAQ: MYGN), a leader in genetic testing and precision medicine. Through its GeneSight^® Psychotropic test, Myriad Neuroscience provides information to healthcare providers about their patient’s genetic variations, which may impact how they metabolize or respond to certain psychiatric medications. Learn more at

About The GeneSight^® Test

Myriad’s GeneSight Psychotropic test is the category-leading pharmacogenomic test for depression medications. The GeneSight test can help inform doctors about genes that may impact how patients metabolize or respond to certain psychiatric medications. It has been given to more than one million patients by tens of thousands of clinicians to provide genetic information that is unique to each patient. It supplements other information considered by a doctor as part of a comprehensive medical assessment. Learn more at .

About Myriad Genetics

Myriad Genetics Inc., is a leading genetic testing and precision medicine company dedicated to transforming patient lives worldwide. Myriad discovers and commercializes genetic tests that determine the risk of developing disease, accurately diagnose disease, assess the risk of disease progression, and guide treatment decisions across medical specialties where molecular diagnostics can significantly improve patient care and lower healthcare costs. For more information on how Myriad is making a difference, please visit the Company's website: .

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