On December 1, 2021 Lucid Diagnostics Inc. (Nasdaq: LUCD) ("Lucid") a commercial-stage, cancer prevention medical diagnostics company, and majority-owned subsidiary of PAVmed Inc. (Nasdaq: PAVM, PAVMZ) ("PAVmed"), reported it has launched its EsoGuard Telemedicine Program in partnership with UpScriptHealth, a leading, nationwide, direct-to-consumer telemedicine company (Press release, Lucid Diagnostics, DEC 1, 2021, View Source [SID1234596379]).
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"Many, if not most, chronic heartburn sufferers treat their symptoms without physician supervision using widely available, heavily advertised, over-the-counter heartburn medications—entirely unaware they may be at risk for esophageal precancer and cancer"
Chronic heartburn patients in four metropolitan areas—Phoenix, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas—can now access a Lucid-branded web-based telemedicine platform to request video evaluation of their condition by an independent UpScriptHealth-managed telemedicine physician. If clinically indicated, the patient will be referred to a local Lucid Test Center or other clinical facility offering rapid, office-based testing to detect esophageal precancer using Lucid’s EsoGuard DNA Esophageal Test ("EsoGuard"). A direct-to-consumer marketing campaign utilizing radio, television, billboards and digital media, will be launched, tested and refined in the Phoenix market before proceeding to other Lucid Test Center cities.
"Many, if not most, chronic heartburn sufferers treat their symptoms without physician supervision using widely available, heavily advertised, over-the-counter heartburn medications—entirely unaware they may be at risk for esophageal precancer and cancer," said Lishan Aklog M.D., Lucid’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "An important pillar of our growth strategy is to educate consumers on the link between chronic heartburn and esophageal cancer, and the availability of a rapid, office-based test to detect esophageal precancer before it progresses to cancer."
"The launch of Lucid’s EsoGuard Telemedicine Program is a very important milestone which completes the foundation for our multi-channel EsoGuard commercialization strategy directly targeting primary care physicians (PCPs), gastroenterologists and now consumers. We believe, based on the experience of other successful early cancer detection companies, that telemedicine programs with direct-to-consumer engagement can have broad reach, accelerate commercialization, and drive long-term growth. We are fortunate to have an ideal partner in UpScriptHealth, a pioneer in online healthcare prescribing with a nationwide network of telemedicine physicians, as we look to expand the EsoGuard Telemedicine Program and Lucid Test Center network regionally and nationally."
Lucid Test Centers currently operate in leased medical office suites located in three locations in Phoenix and one each in Denver, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. Lucid plans to add upcoming test centers in the Pacific Northwest and then steadily expand nationwide. Each test center is staffed with Lucid-employed clinical personnel who use Lucid’s EsoCheck Cell Collection Device ("EsoCheck") to collect esophageal cells which are sent for EsoGuard testing. Lucid estimates that a single nurse practitioner can perform up to twenty EsoCheck procedures per day and expects each center to cover its personnel and medical office leases costs with only a few tests per week.
Since their launch, the test centers have been seeing patients referred for EsoGuard testing by their PCPs. Now, patients who respond to direct-to-consumer engagements can request video telemedicine evaluation through the EsoGuard Telemedicine Program by contacting 1-888-FOODTUBE or registering at www.EsoGuardConsultation.com. If clinically indicated, the telemedicine physician will refer the patient to a Lucid Test Center or other clinical facility for EsoGuard testing. The EsoGuard test result will be reported to this physician who will refer the patient for gastroenterology evaluation if indicated.
Millions of patients with GERD are at risk of developing esophageal precancer and a highly lethal form of esophageal cancer (EAC). Over 80% of EAC patients die within five years of diagnosis, making it the second most lethal cancer in the U.S. The mortality rate is high even in those diagnosed with early stage EAC. The U.S. incidence of EAC has increased 500% over the past four decades, while the incidences of other common cancers have declined or remained flat. In nearly all cases, EAC silently progresses until it manifests itself with new symptoms of advanced disease. All EAC is believed to arise from esophageal precancer which occurs in approximately 5% to 15% of at-risk GERD patients. Early esophageal precancer can be monitored for progression to late esophageal precancer which can be cured with endoscopic esophageal ablation, reliably halting progression to cancer.
Esophageal precancer screening is already recommended by clinical practice guidelines in millions of GERD patients with multiple risk factors, including age over 50 years, male gender, White race, obesity, smoking history, and a family history of esophageal precancer or cancer. Unfortunately, fewer than 10% of those recommended for screening undergo traditional invasive endoscopic screening. The profound tragedy of an EAC diagnosis is that likely death could have been prevented if the at-risk GERD patient had been screened and then undergone surveillance and curative treatment. The only missing element for a viable esophageal cancer prevention program has been the lack of a widespread screening tool that can detect esophageal precancer. Lucid believes EsoGuard and EsoCheck are the missing element and constitute the first and only commercially available test capable of serving as a widespread screening tool to prevent esophageal cancer deaths, through the early detection of esophageal precancer in at-risk GERD patients.
EsoGuard is a bisulfite-converted next-generation sequencing (NGS) DNA assay performed on surface esophageal cells collected with EsoCheck. It quantifies methylation at 31 sites on two genes, Vimentin (VIM) and Cyclin A1 (CCNA1). The assay was evaluated in a 408-patient, multicenter, case-control study published in Science Translational Medicine and showed greater than 90% sensitivity and specificity at detecting esophageal precancer and cancer. EsoGuard is commercially available in the U.S. as a Laboratory Developed Test (LDT) performed at a CLIA/CAP-certified laboratory.
EsoCheck is an FDA 510(k) and CE Mark cleared noninvasive swallowable balloon capsule catheter device capable of sampling surface esophageal cells in a less than five-minute office procedure. It consists of a vitamin pill-sized rigid plastic capsule tethered to a thin silicone catheter from which a soft silicone balloon with textured ridges emerges to gently swab surface esophageal cells. When vacuum suction is applied, the balloon and sampled cells are pulled into the capsule, protecting them from contamination and dilution by cells outside of the targeted region during device withdrawal. Lucid believes this proprietary Collect+Protect technology makes EsoCheck the only noninvasive esophageal cell collection device capable of such anatomically targeted and protected sampling. The sample is sent by overnight express mail to Lucid’s third-party CLIA-certified laboratory partner for EsoGuard testing.