The price of a popular genetic test that predicts women’s risk of breast cancer is likely to drop in the New Year after the agency that administers Medicare benefits said it would slash its reimbursement rate for the test by half.
The rate cut is in effect with the 2014 new year, with harsh financial consequences for genetic-testing companies, particularly Myriad Genetics Inc., the dominant supplier of screenings for mutations in the genes known as BRCA1 and BRCA2.
The cut follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this summer that invalidated Myriad’s patent rights to the BRCA genes and ended the company’s monopoly over testing for BRCA mutations.
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Within hours of the announcement, Wall Street firms began cutting the target price of Myriad’s stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trimmed its 2014 target from $32.00 to $20.00.
Read the full, original story: Reimbursement for Breast-Cancer Risk Test to Be Cut
