ALBUQUERQUE, NM and SAN DIEGO, CA, Oct 02, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE)– Exagen Diagostics, the exclusive providers of AVISE® testing, announced today that a total of eight scientific presentations have been accepted at this year’s 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting being held in Chicago, IL, October 19-24. The new data on display will highlight their proprietary lupus biomarkers, Cell-bound Complement Activation Products (CB-CAPs), as well as a first-of-its-kind health economic outcome evaluation of the impact AVISE Lupus can have on an earlier lupus diagnosis.
According to Dr. Thierry Dervieux, Chief Scientific Officer at Exagen, “We are proud to have our science recognized at such an important event as it will educate clinicians on the latest discoveries across the full spectrum of our advanced laboratory testing. If we look at the adoption rate of our tests within the rheumatology community, it is clear that doctors recognize the value we provide as a specialty reference lab and that is because we invest in the evidence to establish the clinical validity, clinical utility and impact on health economics of our assays for clinicians and payers.”
Exagen offers laboratory tests that address some of the most difficult to diagnose connective tissue diseases including lupus, where patients report waiting an average of 6 years for an accurate diagnosis from the time symptoms start. According to Ron Rocca, CEO at Exagen, “We are an organization that is patient focused, and discovery driven, so sharing 8 novel abstracts at the largest rheumatology conference in the world speaks to the very heart of what our organization has set out to do. Our goal is to improve the lives of patients, and that is why we continue to build on the already impressive body of evidence demonstrating the superiority of our advanced lab tests in diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of patients with autoimmune conditions including connective tissue diseases, SLE and rheumatoid arthritis.”
Dr. Arthur Weinstein, Chief Medical Officer at Exagen explained, “These special tests from Exagen provide value to the Rheumatologist in a number of unique ways. First, there is a shortage of board-certified rheumatologists in the U.S. which is projected to worsen over the next few decades. This will result in ever longer wait times for an initial consultation. The proprietary assays and algorithms included in AVISE CTD can help to make rheumatologists more efficient in how they assess new patients referred for positive ANA test or suspected connective tissue diseases (CTD). Second, the use of the AVISE Lupus test has demonstrated superior performance to standard biomarkers alone and this new data reveals the cost savings from an earlier diagnosis of SLE. Third, patients of course will benefit from an earlier diagnosis and more appropriate therapy. Finally, the patented methotrexate polyglutamates assay helps optimize methotrexate dosing prior to advancing to higher cost biologic drugs or switching from one biologic to another. Clearly the broader adoption of AVISE testing results in a win–win–win situation for doctors, third-party payers, and most importantly patients.”
Visit the Exagen exhibit #561 in Chicago October 21-23, to see first-hand the 8 scientific abstracts being presented and learn more about the benefits of AVISE testing, including the new and improved AVISE SLE Monitor test featuring novel biomarker PC4d.
To learn more about Exagen Diagnostics, please visit www.Exagen.com.
About Exagen’s AVISE laboratory tests
AVISE Connective Tissue Disease (CTD) is a diagnostic test which supports care providers with an accurate assessment of critical biomarkers in patients suspected of SLE or rheumatic conditions with similar symptoms. AVISE Lupus uniquely incorporates biologically-relevant CB-CAPs (Cell-Bound Complement Activation Products) into a proprietary algorithm that yields an index value which is associated with the likelihood for the presence of SLE. This amounts to a convenient test for the differential diagnosis of SLE with demonstrated performance of 80% sensitivity and 86% specificity.
AVISE SLE Monitor is a combination of five advanced tests and provides important data to assist physicians anytime they assess the status of a patient with SLE. This test employs erythrocyte bound C4d (EC4d) along with other key markers which have demonstrated significant correlation to SLE disease activity. AVISE SLE Monitor gives the treating care provider an accurate glimpse into the serologic measures of disease activity allowing for a more complete picture of how well a patient’s condition is being managed.