Guardant Health Expands Access to Shield CRC Blood Test to Senior Living Communities with LabFlorida Partnership
- Streamlined access to Guardant Shield ™ will help millions of people residing in senior living facilities to stay up to date on colorectal cancer screening
- LabFlorida/SunDX will provide patients in assisted and independent living communities, as well as residential care facilities across 20 states access to Shield
- LabFlorida exclusively distributing Shield in senior centers in Florida
Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH), a leading precision oncology company, today announced it has reached a strategic agreement with LabFlorida/SunDx Labs to provide residents of senior living communities access to Guardant Shield™, the first blood test approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a primary screening option for colorectal cancer (CRC). As part of the agreement, LabFlorida will serve as the exclusive distributor to senior living communities throughout Florida. LabFlorida/SunDX provides premier concierge-style lab testing, tailored specifically for assisted and independent living and homebound patients.
Shield is the first blood test approved by the FDA as a primary screening option for CRC, the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S.1 CRC has a 91 percent five-year survival rate if caught in early stages. Yet, one out of three eligible adults in the U.S. - over 50 million people - do not complete the recommended screening in part because they find the available options, colonoscopy and stool tests, unpleasant or inconvenient. For the one to two million individuals in senior living communities, routine screening is especially critical, as the risk of colorectal cancer increases with age.2 A recent NIH pilot study found that up to 71% of assisted living residents were not up to date with CRC screening.3 With Shield, individuals can be screened with a simple blood draw, helping to detect cancer early, when it is more treatable.
"Shield has the potential to be revolutionary for senior living communities. Colorectal cancer disproportionately affects older adults, yet seniors, who are the most vulnerable population, are overwhelmingly under-screened," said AmirAli Talasaz, Guardant Health co-CEO. "By making screening easy with a simple blood draw, Shield can redefine preventative healthcare for residents and has the power to increase screening rates and improve patient outcomes."
"We are proud to partner with Guardant Health to bring the Shield test to the senior living communities we serve," said Ralph Nenna, VP of Business Development of LabFlorida/SunDx Labs. "The Shield test represents a game changer in early detection and preventive care – making CRC screening more accessible and comfortable for seniors."
About Shield
Shield is a non-invasive, blood-based screening test that detects alterations associated with colorectal cancer in the blood. It is intended as a screening test for individuals at average risk for the disease, age 45 or older, and is not intended for individuals at high risk for colorectal cancer. The Shield test can be considered in a manner similar to guideline-recommended non-invasive CRC screening options and can be completed during any healthcare visit. A positive Shield result raises concern for the presence of colorectal cancer or advanced adenoma and the patient should be referred for colonoscopy evaluation.
About Guardant Health
Guardant Health is a leading precision oncology company focused on guarding wellness and giving every person more time free from cancer. Founded in 2012, Guardant is transforming patient care and accelerating new cancer therapies by providing critical insights into what drives disease through its advanced blood and tissue tests, real-world data and AI analytics. Guardant tests help improve outcomes across all stages of care, including screening to find cancer early, monitoring for recurrence in early-stage cancer, and treatment selection for patients with advanced cancer. For more information, visit guardanthealth.com and follow the company on LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and Facebook.
Guardant Health Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws, including statements regarding the potential utilities, values, benefits and advantages of Guardant Health's liquid biopsy tests or assays, which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results and expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and actual outcomes and results could differ materially from these statements due to a number of factors. These and additional risks and uncertainties that could affect Guardant Health's financial and operating results and cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release include those discussed under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation" and elsewhere in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and in its other reports filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Guardant Health as of the date hereof, and Guardant Health disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements provided to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Guardant Health's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
1American Cancer Society. Key Statistics for Colorectal Cancer https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/colon-rectal-cancer/about/key-statistics.html
2American Cancer Society. Colorectal Cancer Risk Factors https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/colon-rectal-cancer/causes-risks-prevention/risk-factors.html
3 National Institute of Health. A Pilot Study to Examine Colorectal Cancer Screening in Two Assisted Living Communities https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3929156/
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