Myriad Genetics study setback unlikely to impact GeneSight, says Leerink

Leerink keeps an Outperform rating on Myriad Genetics after the company disclosed that it is discontinuing Phase 2 of an economic impact study on GeneSight because it could not find an adequate control group. The firm caught up with management, who highlighted that while they had hoped the study would strengthen the economic arguments for GeneSight coverage, the discontinuation has no impact as no coverage decisions to date have been made based on economic arguments. The setback to the study is unlikely to have an impact on GeneSight selling prices or volumes, but Myriad’s decision to disclose the news in a regulatory filing “is likely to raise investor questions,” the analyst tells investors in a research note. Leerink believes GeneSight “still has meaningful room” to increase coverage in states with biomarker bills, and that today’s news “should not affect this tailwind.”