Burning Rock, Myriad Genetics Expand HRD Testing Partnership
The expanded deal gives Burning Rock a prostate cancer algorithm to add to tests in China and licenses Myriad tech for a new HRD kit to sell elsewhere.
Burning Rock Biotech and Myriad Genetics have expanded their homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) testing partnership, adding new capabilities to Burning Rock’s China-based test and setting up a new companion diagnostic kit aimed at markets beyond China.
Under an expanded licensing agreement announced July 17, Burning Rock’s myChoice HRD Plus test will add a prostate Genomic Instability Score (prGIS) algorithm module alongside its existing HRD assessment. Burning Rock will continue to lead development and commercialization of the enhanced test in China.
Separately, Burning Rock will use the GIS and prGIS algorithms licensed from Myriad, combined with its own OncoScreen Plus sequencing platform, to develop a new HRD testing kit intended for commercialization in markets beyond China.
Financial terms of the expanded agreement were not disclosed.
The companies’ relationship dates to 2020, when they signed an exclusive licensing agreement giving Burning Rock rights to Myriad’s GIS algorithm for development in China. Burning Rock launched the resulting myChoice HRD Plus test in China in 2021, using it to help identify cancer patients likely to benefit from PARP inhibitor therapies
HRD testing checks whether a tumor has lost its ability to repair certain types of DNA damage, a weakness that makes it especially vulnerable to PARP inhibitor drugs. While better established in ovarian and breast cancer, HRD testing is expanding into others, like prostate cancer.
The prGIS algorithm evaluates genomic scar features including telomeric allelic imbalance, large-scale state transitions, and genome-wide imbalance to assess HRD status.
Burning Rock did not provide a development timeline for its new HRD test.