Interpace Diagnostics Corp. (IDXG) partnered with the Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) Association’s Center for Clinical Effectiveness “Evidence Street”, a program that, while not making coverage decisions, gives the Company with the chance to offer available evidence for its molecular Thyroid and Pancreas tests, to support enhanced coverage determinations among BCBS and other health plans. Blue Cross Blue Shield’s thirty-six independent plans and Companies account for almost 106 million covered lives in the United States.
As part of the contract, Interpace will work with Evidence Street to establish the optimal ways for the Company to protect and preserve ongoing enhanced coverage for not merely its presently marketed products but also for those tests in the pipeline being initiated in the near future. All of Interpace’s presently marketed products are covered regionally by Medicare and several commercial plans, involving few BCBS plans.
While the BCBS plans apply several criteria in their evaluation of technologies, the 2 criteria most immensely weighted are clinical utility and patient outcomes. The Company has undertook various studies for their products in both its Endocrine (Endo) franchise, i.e. ThyGenX® and ThyraMir®, and Gastrointestinal (GI) franchise involving PancraGen® and BarreGen® for pancreatic and esophageal cancer respectively. The information from these studies has been issued in several peer-reviewed publications like Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, American Journal of Gastroenterology, and Endoscopy. These publications give favorable conclusions regarding the clinical utility of the Company’s molecular tests. The ECRI Institute, another independent review agency, released a review of PancraGen in the month of April 2016, in which it concluded “PancraGen is more predictive of real life patient management in contrast to current guidelines.”
Jack E. Stover, President and CEO of Interpace Diagnostics said, “We’re excited about our evolving relationship with Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s Evidence Street which, we consider, will assist to make sure that we sustain to develop and give the information and data necessary to support and secure broader based insurance coverage and reimbursement for all of our products. This relationship is another significant milestone in our reimbursement strategy and, when added to our latest AETNA insurance approval for ThyraMIR and New York State approval to market ThyGenX, bodes well for our commercial prospects in the year of 2017 and beyond.”
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