Exact
Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ: EXAS) today announced that Group Health
Cooperative will be the first health plan in Wisconsin to offer Cologuard®
to its patients. Cologuard is the first and only Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) approved, noninvasive stool DNA
screening test for colorectal
cancer. Cologuard will be available to patients as part of their
current laboratory benefits, covered by Group Health Cooperative of
South Central Wisconsin (GHC-SCW), and can be prescribed by their
primary care physicians.
Cologuard offers people 50 years and older who are at average risk for
colorectal cancer an easy to use screening test which they can do in the
privacy of their own home. Cologuard has been proven to find 92 percent
of colorectal cancers in average risk patients with 87 percent
specificity. Unlike many other screening options, Cologuard does not
require medication, dietary restrictions or bowel preparation prior to
taking the test. It is the first noninvasive screening test for
colorectal cancer that analyzes both stool-based DNA and blood
biomarkers to detect cancer and precancer. The Cologuard technology
platform was co-developed by Exact Sciences Corp. and the Mayo Clinic.
“At Group Health Cooperative, we take pride in offering the most
advanced cancer detection technology available,” said Kevin Hayden,
Chief Executive Officer of Group Health Cooperative. “With colorectal
cancer in particular, a high level of non-compliance with existing
screening options has hampered our ability to identify the disease in
its early stages when it is most treatable. As an accurate and
patient-friendly screening option, Cologuard represents a significant
advance in the fight against colorectal cancer. Making Cologuard
available will hopefully encourage patients to get regular screenings
and, in turn, improve survival rates for this preventable cancer.”
Colorectal cancer is highly preventable with screening. However,
twenty-three million Americans between 50 and 75 are not getting
screened as recommended and, as a result, colorectal cancer remains the
second-leading cancer killer in the United States. For those whose
cancer is detected at an earlier stage, the five-year survival rate can
be greater than 90 percent.
“Exact Sciences is proud to be a Wisconsin-based company, making it
especially fitting that one of the first health plans and clinics in the
country to offer and cover Cologuard be in our own backyard,” said Kevin
Conroy, president, CEO and chairman of Exact Sciences Corp. “We look
forward to working with Group Health Cooperative to give patients in
Wisconsin access to this important new cancer screening technology.”
Cologuard is designed to detect DNA alternations and blood released from
cancer and precancerous colon lesions. The test requires a physician
order. After the physician orders Cologuard, the kit is mailed directly
to the patient’s home. The patient then collects a stool sample in the
Cologuard Collection Kit and sends the kit back to the Exact Sciences
lab for testing through a pre-paid mailer. Patients learn of their
results in as little as two weeks from their physician. Patients with a
positive result will need to undergo colonoscopy.
Cologuard will be available to patients through their current laboratory
benefits, covered by Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin
(GHC-SCW), through their primary care physicians. Rx only.
For more information, visit www.CologuardTest.com
or call 1-844-870-8870. More information on colon cancer and the
importance of screening and early detection at http://www.beseengetscreened.com/.
Visit www.exactsciences.com
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About Exact Sciences Corp.
Exact Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ: EXAS) is a molecular diagnostics company
focused on the early detection and prevention of colorectal cancer. The
company has exclusive intellectual property protecting its noninvasive,
molecular screening technology for the detection of colorectal cancer.
Stool DNA technology is included in the colorectal cancer screening
guidelines of the American Cancer Society and the U.S. Multi-Society
Task Force on Colorectal Cancer. For more information, please visit the
company's website at www.exactsciences.com,
follow us on Twitter @ExactSciences
or find us on Facebook.
About Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin (GHC-SCW)
GHC-SCW is a non-profit cooperative, health plan, representing over
80,000 members. As a consumer-sponsored health plan, GHC-SCW provides or
arranges for health insurance products and the delivery of both primary
and specialty health care to members living or working in the Dane
County community. For seven consecutive years, GHC-SCW has been ranked
the top health plan in Wisconsin and among the top 10 health plans in
the nation for quality in health care by the National Committee for
Quality Assurance (NCQA).
Certain statements made in this news release contain forward-looking
statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of
1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of
1934, as amended that are intended to be covered by the “safe harbor”
created by those sections. Forward-looking statements, which are
based on certain assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies
and expectations, can generally be identified by the use of
forward-looking terms such as “believe,” “expect,” “may,” “will,”
“should,” “could,” “seek,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate,” “anticipate” or
other comparable terms. Forward-looking statements in this news
release may address the following subjects among others: statements
regarding the sufficiency of our capital resources, our ability to
secure favorable reimbursement rates from Medicare and other third-party
payors, timing of our launch of a commercial product, our estimates of
the available market size and our potential penetration, expected
research and development expenses, expected general and administrative
expenses and our expectations concerning our business strategy. Forward-looking
statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties which could cause
actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking
statements, as a result of various factors including those risks and
uncertainties described in the Risk Factors and in Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
sections of our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and
our subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We
urge you to consider those risks and uncertainties in evaluating our
forward-looking statements. We caution readers not to place undue
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of the date made. Except as otherwise required by the federal
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Copyright Business Wire 2014