Burning Rock, Myriad strike global HRD testing licensing deal

Burning Rock Biotech and Myriad Genetics announced a global technology licensing partnership to expand homologous recombination deficiency testing in China and other markets. The deal adds a prostate-focused algorithm to Burning Rock’s existing product and sets up a new HRD kit for broader commercialization.

Why it matters: - The deal could widen access to homologous recombination deficiency, or HRD, testing for cancer patients in China and potentially other global markets. - The partnership is aimed at improving companion diagnostic options for prostate cancer and other oncology use cases. - Burning Rock also gains additional licensed HRD technology to support a new testing kit on its proprietary platform.

What happened: - Burning Rock Biotech Limited and Myriad Genetics announced a new global technology licensing agreement and strategic partnership. - The companies said the collaboration is intended to accelerate development and commercialization of HRD testing solutions. - Burning Rock commercializes myChoice HRD Plus in China and will add Myriad’s prostate Genomic Instability Score, or prGIS, algorithm to the product. - Burning Rock will also use Myriad’s licensed HRD technologies with its OncoScreen Plus platform to develop a new HRD testing kit for markets beyond China.

The details: - The partnership builds on an earlier agreement dating to 2020, when Burning Rock and Myriad first announced an exclusive licensing deal for Myriad’s Genomic Instability Score, or GIS, algorithm in China. - Burning Rock launched myChoice HRD Plus in 2021 after analytical performance validation. - myChoice HRD Plus currently supports treatment decisions and helps identify patients most likely to benefit from PARP inhibitor therapies. - The enhanced version will keep its existing GIS-based HRD assessment while adding the prGIS module. - The prGIS algorithm evaluates Telomeric Allelic Imbalance, Large-scale State Transitions and Genome-Wide Imbalance to assess HRD status in prostate cancer patients. - Burning Rock said the upgraded product is expected to expand the clinical value of HRD testing for prostate cancer in China. - Burning Rock will continue to develop and commercialize myChoice HRD Plus. - Burning Rock will use Myriad’s globally licensed GIS algorithm, excluding Japan, and prGIS, excluding Japan and the United States, for the new OncoScreen Plus-based HRD kit. - The company said the effort supports its “One Assay for All” global strategy. - Burning Rock’s corporate background includes therapy selection testing, biomarker and companion diagnostic cooperation with global antineoplastic companies, and multi-cancer early detection based on liquid biopsy. - Burning Rock said it received the first approval for a tumor NGS kit from China’s National Medical Products Administration in July 2018. - Burning Rock said its lab has technical certification as a high-throughput sequencing laboratory from Guangdong Center for Clinical Laboratory and holds CLIA, CAP and ISO15189 certifications. - Myriad Genetics develops and commercializes molecular tests that inform disease risk, disease progression and treatment decisions across medical specialties. - Burning Rock’s company website is More information.

Between the lines: - The agreement suggests both companies are trying to turn established HRD intellectual property into broader commercial reach. - For Burning Rock, the licensing structure lets the company extend an existing China product while also building a separate platform for international expansion. - For Myriad, the deal expands the footprint of its HRD algorithms without requiring the company to commercialize every market directly.

What's next: - Burning Rock plans to advance the enhanced myChoice HRD Plus for patients in China. - Burning Rock also plans to develop the new OncoScreen Plus-based HRD testing kit. - Both products are expected to be positioned as companion diagnostic solutions for pharmaceutical partners and drug development programs. - The companies said the new products are intended to help more patients access personalized precision treatment guided by molecular profiling.