Favorable Data for Myriad Genetics - Analyst Blog

Shares of Myriad Genetics Inc. MYGN gained 1.78% at yesterday's close, soon after the company announced favorable data from the Milieu Interieur Project that was published in the journal Immunity. This initial data was published jointly by Myriad Genetics' wholly owned subsidiary, Myriad RBM and privately held Institut Pasteur, a non-profit foundation working on prevention and cure of infection diseases.

The Milieu Interieur Project is a population-based study undertaken with the aim to characterize the immune phenotypes of 1,000 healthy subjects in response to 32 complex immune stimulants. This study has been supported by the French National Ministry of Research and coordinated by the Institut Pasteur.

The results in the Immunity journal show that Myriad RBM's TruCulture (a proprietary blood collection and culturing system used to characterize individual immune responses of 25 healthy people to medically relevant stimuli) stimulations are reproducible, with close correspondence in repeated tests from the same subject. According to Myriad Genetics, the outcome of this project may create a landmark making way for the development of cutting-edge diagnostics and companion diagnostics.

Myriad Genetics is currently targeting expansion of its pipeline with products for diverse indications including oncology, women's health, urology, dermatology, autoimmune and inflammatory disease and neuroscience. To achieve this objective, the company has decided to pursue internal developments, in-licensing of technologies and acquisitions to expand its business. We are sanguine about these developments as some of the pipeline candidates look promising enough to cater to a billion-dollar market size.

Myriad Genetics' increasing focus on the companion diagnostic market should work in its favor fuelling growth. We look forward to the expansion of indications and derive comfort from the company's plan to foray into the dermatology, autoimmune and neuroscience market in the near future, on the back of portfolio development.

Currently, the stock carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Some other well-placed stocks that are worth a look are Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ALXN, Gilead Sciences Inc. GILD and Actelion Ltd. (ALIOF). While ALXN and GILD hold a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), ALIOF carries a Zacks Rank #2.