Myriad Genetics Acquisition Enhances Capacity to Deliver Companion Diagnostics

(Salt Lake City, UT, USA) will acquire Rules-Based Medicine (RBM; Austin, TX, USA) for US$80 million in cash. With the new acquisition, Myriad hopes to gain faster entry into the companion diagnostics market.

RBM, with nearly 160 employees, will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Myriad under the name Myriad RBM. Some of RBM's employees will be relocated to Utah.

Myriad develops products for predictive, personalized, and prognostic medicine. The bulk of Myriad's revenues comes from its BRAC analysis test, which analyzes a woman's DNA for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, the presence of which greatly increases a woman's chances of inheriting breast and ovarian cancer.

An early pioneer in molecular diagnostics, Myriad's strategy is to understand the role of genes in human disease and use the information to develop and commercialize products that assess a person's risk of developing disease later in life and guide treatment decisions based on an individual's genetic makeup and specific cause of disease

Rules-Based Medicine is a privately owned life sciences company that has well-established relationships with key therapeutic drug companies. It develops molecular diagnostic tests based on novel biomarker patterns. The company recently introduced a multianalyte medical laboratory test for the psychiatric market. RBM also provides information to pharmaceutical and biotech partners to accelerate drug development and improve clinical-trial outcomes

Myriad's purchase of RBM is an example of how companies in the clinical laboratory testing marketplace are preparing to serve the coming demand for companion diagnostic tests.

Related Links:
Myriad Genetics, Inc.
Rules-Based Medicine