Aug. 26--Myriad Genetics Inc. reported Tuesday that revenue generated from its molecular diagnostic products reached $327 million during its 2009 fiscal year, a 47 percent increase over its sales in fiscal 2008.

The Salt Lake City-based company, which sells genetic tests that help health care providers determine if someone has a predisposition to diseases such as breast and ovarian cancer, said its net income for the years was $84.6 million, or 86 cents per share.

Myriad's net income for the year was calculated by taking into consideration a $51.6 million loss generated from the spinoff of its pharmaceutical and research businesses to its existing shareholders on June 30.

"Looking at the year more closely, the current economic recession began to impact our revenue growth during the second half of the year, with first half growth of 55 percent decelerating to 40 percent in the second half of the year," Peter Meldrum, Myriad's chief executive said in a conference call with investors.

He said the recession, as expected, has resulted in only a modest impact on the sales of its cancer tests, largely from unemployment and the resulting loss of insurance. But it generated greater impact on the company's OB/GYN tests due to fewer doctor office visits by patients.

"As we move into 2010, we expect the continued weak economy to restrain our revenue growth. However, we are comfortable with the current research analyst's consensus guidance of $392

million in revenue and $1.44 [earnings] per diluted share for fiscal 2010."

Securities analyst Karen Andersen of Morningstar, in a recent report, said Myriad is building solid competitive advantages in the diagnostic arena.

"The growth and profitability of Myriad Genetics' predictive-medicine segment demonstrates this firm's strength in discovering genes and their roles in various forms of disease," she said.

"Now that the firm's drug development efforts have been spun off as a separate entity, research-and-development expenses should decline rapidly and allow Myriad's predictive medicine to further boost the firm's profitability," Andersen said.

In a statement announcing Myriad's 2009 results, Meldrum said the company recently implemented several measures to spur sales, including adding 50 new sales representatives and accelerating its "direct-to-consumer" campaign that it recently launched in the Midwest.

steve@sltrib.com

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