By Polo Rocha
WisBusiness.com
Exact Sciences Chairman and CEO Kevin Conroy says it’s unlikely a federal panel will change its mind about a preliminary decision that sent the company’s stock tumbling.
But Conroy said on an earnings call Thursday that he’s confident the company will continue to win over physicians and health insurers who pay for the company’s non-invasive colon cancer screening.
Their Cologuard product, Conroy said, has a compliance rate of 73 percent, much higher than traditional colon cancer screenings, and has seen a “continued strong trajectory” of increased orders from doctors.
“We believe that winning over payers will take longer than we expected. … The dynamics are already moving in that direction, but it may take longer to occur,” he said.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force didn’t recommend Exact Sciences’ Cologuard product, which has gotten FDA approval and is covered by Medicare and Medicaid. The panel did, however, list the product as an alternative colon cancer screening option.
The company is hoping to get the task force to recommend Cologuard when it releases its final decision, but Conroy said it’s unusual for the task force to change direction from a preliminary recommendation.
Exact Sciences lost $42.9 million in the third quarter, or 45 cents per share — compared to a $32.1 million loss in the same period last year, or 39 cents per share. The company’s revenues in the third quarter were $12.6 million, and its total revenues in the first nine months of the year were $25 million.
The third quarter saw 34,000 completed Cologuard tests, a 60 percent jump from the second quarter. About 21,000 doctors ordered the product during the third quarter, a 42 percent increase.
Also this week, Madison Mayor Paul Soglin extended a deadline for Exact Sciences and a developer to respond on whether the task force’s recommendation has changed their plans on moving the Exact Sciences headquarters downtown. They now have until Monday to respond.
