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Myriad Genetics is with Department of VA to Trial MDD Genetic Test

Assurex Health, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Myriad Genetics, has now announced that it will be banding together with Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to initiate a national, multi-center trial to evaluate the company’s GeneSight test to help improve health outcomes for veterans diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD).

The $12 million Precision Medicine in Mental Health Care study, or PRIME, is being funded by the VA and will involve 2,000 veterans with a major depressive disorder and 250 healthcare providers across 21 VA medical centers. The study will randomize patients to one arm in which patients immediately get treatment based on GeneSight results, or to the comparator arm in which patients receive standard treatment for six months and then receive PGx results.

Through this study, we hope to learn if there is an association between the GeneSight test and more effective treatment for Veterans suffering from a major depressive disorder, a condition which affects many veterans,” Dr. David Oslin, the Philadelphia VA hospital’s chief of behavioral health.

About 20 percent of the 2.6 million veterans who deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan returned with clinical depression or a related

mental health condition, and suicide rates for veterans are twice that of the general U.S. population, the company said.

 

The VA allocated $12 million for the research, which will involve 250 health care providers caring for 2,000 patients at 21 VA medical centers.

The research is expected to be completed in 2021.

GeneSight uses a proprietary algorithm to analyze 12 different genes to weigh their combined influence on patient response to more than 55 psychotropic medications. GeneSight testing is designed to guide clinician prescribing by placing each medication into one of three color-coded categories “Use as Directed” in green, “Moderate Gene-Drug Interaction” in yellow, or “Significant Gene-Drug Interaction” in red.

The test is based on combinatorial pharmacogenomics (CPG), which is designed to analyze variations and combinations of a person’s genes along with FDA-approved medications for behavioral health conditions and severe pain.

The test, which usually costs $330. Assurex claims on GeneSight’s website, “We promise that if your cost could be more than $330, we’ll call you before we process your test.

We are extremely honored to collaborate with the VA by providing our high quality GeneSight pharmacogenomics test to the PRIME Care study and to support the VA’s mission to care for America’s veterans,” said Bryan Dechairo, Ph.D., executive vice president, Clinical Development, Myriad Genetics.  “As one of the largest healthcare providers worldwide, the VA is uniquely positioned to use genetic information to improve the treatment of major depression.

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