NEW YORK – Castle Biosciences on Tuesday said it will acquire the Myriad myPath Melanoma laboratory and test from Myriad Genetics for $32.5 million in cash and cash equivalents.
The CLIA-certified laboratory in Utah performs Myriad's 23-gene expression profile myPath Melanoma test, which is designed to provide additional information following histopathology to help doctors distinguish if patients' skin lesions are benign or cancerous.
The acquisition will bolster Castle's pipeline of tests for dermatologic cancers. The Texas-based company currently markets DecisionDx DiffDx-Melanoma, a 35-gene expression profile test for diagnosing challenging melanocytic lesions.
"We believe this acquisition will add incremental value to both myPath Melanoma and DiffDx-Melanoma by leveraging the strengths of these two distinct, validated tests," Derek Maetzold, Castle's CEO and president, said in a statement, noting that it will enable more patients to more frequently receive actionable results.
Myriad will continue to offer myPath until the transaction closes in four weeks. The company had previously said that it would sell several assets, including myPath Melanoma, its RBM pharmaceutical contract research business, and the Vectra DA rheumatoid arthritis test, as part of a plan to put the company back on a path to financial recovery and refocus on core testing markets, such as hereditary cancer and mental health pharmacogenomics.
"We are pleased to sign an agreement with Castle Biosciences that meets our objective of ensuring patients continue to have access to this important test and providing value for our shareholders," Paul Diaz, CEO and president of Myriad, said in a statement. "The divestiture of Myriad myPath Melanoma will allow Myriad to focus on its core businesses in women's health, oncology, and mental health and provide growth capital for future investment."