Mira Dx Licenses Triple Negative Breast Cancer Risk Variant from Yale University

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Feb. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Mira Dx announced today that it has licensed technology from Yale University based on the acceptance of a pivotal breast cancer study in the January issue of the journal Cell Cycle. While numerous BRCA1 coding sequence mutations are associated with breast cancer risk, such mutations in BRCA1 account for less than 5% of breast cancer risk. The research identified microRNA disrupting variants in and around BRCA1 that are polymorphic in breast cancer populations. One key variant (rs8176318) shows significant cancer association for predicting the risk of developing triple negative breast cancer, especially for African American women.

It is estimated that last year in the US more than 207,090 women were diagnosed with breast cancer, and that 39,840 women died from the disease, according to the National Cancer Institute website. Triple negative breast cancer accounts for 15-20% of all breast cancers, and is the most deadly form of this disease.

"There is a real need for tools that can help women who have a family history of breast cancer to better understand their risk," said Martin Van Verhoef, President & CEO of Mira Dx. "We are pleased to continue our advancements in the field of miRNAs in cancer risk and plan to make this information available to women in 2011 in the form of a new triple negative breast cancer risk test." Verhoef continued, "We hope that cancer risk markers such as this marker will provide valuable information for the tens of thousands of women and families each year who are and may be affected by triple negative breast cancer."

Mira Dx was formed in February 2008 by researchers at Yale University to discover gene-based laboratory tests conducted on newly discovered genetic regulators called microRNAs (miRNAs). Mira Dx is applying miRNA discoveries to develop molecular diagnostics, which will provide individualized information on the likelihood of disease occurrence and response to certain types of therapy.

Mira Dx operates a CLIA lab out of New Haven, CT and currently runs a test to identify women at risk of epithelial ovarian cancer, PreOvar. Information on PreOvar and Mira Dx is available from the company's website, www.MiraDx.com.

About Mira Dx

Mira Dx is a genomics company founded on research discovered at Yale University that is dedicated to the development and commercialization of novel microRNA-based tests for risk assessment and companion diagnostics. Our goal is to provide information that can help clinicians better understand cancer to better serve their patients, allowing earlier diagnosis, better management and ultimately higher cure rates.  For more information, please visit www.MiraDx.com.

SOURCE Mira Dx