Between presenting at the 39th Annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, acquiring an asset that boosted its precision oncology line, and presenting its preliminary fourth-quarter 2020 results, Exact Sciences had a busy week.
Five things Exact did this week:
1. Chair and CEO Kevin Conroy gave a series of updates Jan. 13 at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, Genome Web reported Jan. 14. Mr. Conroy said Exact tested more than 4 million people in 2020, contributing to the $1.49 billion in preliminary 2020 revenues the company reported Jan. 10.
2. Mr. Conroy reiterated Exact's goal to be a leader in three diagnostic screening markets: colorectal cancer screening, multi-cancer screening, and minimal residual disease and recurrence monitoring. The three markets represent a combined $58 billion market.
3. Before the presentation, Exact released results from its study on how Cologuard, its multitarget DNA screening CRC test, could affect the age 45- to 49-year-old market. The data indicated that Cologuard had a 95.2 percent specificity in people with non-advanced precancerous lesions.
4. Mr. Conroy gave an update on the company's second-generation CRC test, Cologuard 2.0. Exact is attempting to maintain the first-generation test's 92 percent sensitivity rate, but decreasing the first-generation test's false-positive rate by 30 percent. He hopes to improve the test's cost of goods and revenue by 5 percent and 10 percent per test.
5. Finally, Exact also acquired a license to The Translational Genomics Research Institute's proprietary TARDIS, or targeted digital sequencing, technology, Exact announced Jan. 13. This technology will expand Exact's precision oncology line and boost the company's minimal residual disease testing.