Exact Sciences CEO Kevin Conroy spoke to Xconomy about several aspects of the company, while detailing his nine years with the company.
Here's what you should know.
1. Mr. Conroy reflected on Exact's decision to move from Boston to Madison, Wis. He said, "We didn't know how many things had to go right. We thought willpower would help us identify the problems and solve them."
He attributed a combination of hard work and good fortune as the factors behind Exact's success.
2. Exact recently completed its 1 millionth Cologuard test. Mr. Conroy estimated as a result that approximately 7,000 people were diagnosed with colon cancer, with around 75 percent of those cases being early stage and curable. He added, "We know that we're having an impact and giving peace of mind to the people who get a normal Cologuard result."
3. Mr. Conroy emphasized the importance of increasing Exact's share of the colon cancer screening market from its current 2.6 percent share to 40 percent. By doing this, he hopes 8 to 10 million people will undergo screenings consistently, which would bring the screening rate in line with breast-and cervical-cancer screening.
He said, "We're confident that we will get there. How much time that takes, we don't know."
4. A challenge Exact is fighting to overcome is physician exposure. The company is doing that through digital education and direct marketing, but it's an uphill battle. To date, Mr. Conroy said Exact is in the EHR systems of about 15 percent of the largest hospital systems; getting that percentage to 100 is the goal.
To read the whole interview, click here.