UnitedHealthcare announced it would cover Exact Sciences' Cologuard test starting July 1, causing Exact Sciences' shares to jump 12 percent, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Here's what you should know.
1. Exact Sciences closed at $36.47 on May 31. Shares have increased 449 percent year-over-year.
2. Exact Sciences did not provide a comment to the Journal Sentinel on the news.
3. According to Genomeweb, UnitedHealthcare reversed its course on Exact Sciences. The payer had initial declined to cover Cologuard, citing insufficient evidence of the test's accuracy. UnitedHealth will cover the test for 50- to 75-year-old patients.
4. A Cowen analyst told Genomeweb that heading into 2018, Exact Sciences should have 95 percent of the eligible patient base covered in the U.S.