GTG breast cancer test found to be cost-effective

An economic modelling study of Genetic Technologies’ (ASX:GTG) breast cancer risk assessment test BREVAGen has found it to be cost-effective.

The study, conducted by GTG and San Francisco healthcare modelling and analytics company Archimedes, has been featured in the journal Applied Health Economics and Health Policies.

To examine the cost-effectiveness of using BREVAGen to direct tamoxifen chemoprevention, the study used a simulated population of women aged 40-69 who were at elevated risk for breast cancer due to a history of benign breast biopsy.

In a virtual clinical trial, the patients were assessed for risk of developing breast cancer using the test to determine their eligibility for five years of tamoxifen therapy.

BREVAGen was found to improve clinical outcomes, with an average of 15 breast cancer cases ‘prevented’ per 1000 women.

Adding information about breast cancer susceptibility to current decision models for breast cancer chemoprevention was also found to be cost-effective, meeting the benchmark used by US insurers of a cost below $50,000 per quality-adjusted life year saved.

The test was most cost-effective in patients classified as having an intermediate risk of developing breast cancer.

GTG separately announced that a US court has denied a request to quash one of the patent infringement lawsuits it has filed against US companies.

The District Court of Northern California has denied a motion by defendant Agilent Technologies to have the lawsuit dismissed.

GTG has accused Agilent of selling a DNA testing device that infringes on its non-coding DNA patents.

Agilent sought to have the suit dismissed on the grounds that the patent covers natural phenomena not entitled to patent protection, but the court disagreed. The decision comes months after the US Patent and Trademark Office upheld all claims in the patent in question for the third time.

“With the removal of what some potential licensees have apparently used as a reason to delay settlement discussions, we trust that good faith negotiations will now resume in earnest,” GTG acting CEO Tom Howitt commented.

Genetic Technologies (ASX:GTG) shares were trading 6.15% lower at $0.061 as of around 12.30 pm on Wednesday.