KDx Diagnostics and UroGPO announced the partnership to provide the URO17® test (Research Use Only in the US) for the detection of bladder cancer. URO17® is a non-invasive urine test with high sensitivity and negative predicted value (NPV) that can be used to determine the status of active bladder cancer and to improve patient diagnosis. This is also likely to improve the treatment path as URO17® is also now available as a Laboratory Developed Test (LDT) in the United States. UroGPO will offer reagents and information for the URO17® test to the members of their Group Purchasing Organization.
With over 85,000 new cases of bladder cancer in the United States every year the most common symptom of bladder cancer is hematuria, or blood in the urine, and patients with hematuria need to be subjected to invasive cystoscopic procedures even though a large majority of patients with micro-hematuria will not have bladder cancer. The URO17® test, and its high sensitivity and NPV for bladder cancer, will assist in ruling these patients out for unnecessary cystoscopy and its invasive procedure and in turn reduce the work-up.
“We are very excited to partner with UroGPO, the premier urology network and group purchasing organization in the US, to make our URO17® test and information available to their network of clinical laboratories. Through UroGPO, the urology laboratories will have direct access to ordering with a special in-network pricing which will facilitate the availability of URO17® to the urologists,” says Sholeh Jahanfard, President of KDx Diagnostics Inc.
“UroGPO is happy to present this new partnership to our membership. The URO17® test adds efficiency and precision to the care of patients with bladder cancer. KDx has taken steps to remove barriers of access for both physicians and patients which will ultimately benefit patient outcomes, improve quality of life, and even mortality,” says Palmer DePetro, Sr. Director, Contracting at Specialty Networks.