Exact Sciences released its second-quarter earnings Aug. 1, posting revenues of $102.9 million.
Here are six insights into Exact Sciences from the second-quarter earnings call, as transcribed by SeekingAlpha:
1. Chairman and CEO Kevin Conroy on the quarterly earnings: "The Exact Sciences' team delivered strong second quarter results with record-high revenue, Cologuard test volume and gross profit. Demand accelerated broadly within our existing physician ordering base and from new customers, with more than 10,000 physicians and other healthcare providers ordering their first Cologuard test. Better-than-expected revenue per test largely offset a 2 percent shortfall compared to the low end of our volume guidance and kept us on track for our 2018 revenue goals."
2. On Cologuard: "Our first priority for 2018 is to command the core Cologuard business. Today, we estimate that about 90 percent of patients have access to Cologuard with no out-of-pocket costs. That's a very strong and simple reimbursement message."
3. Exact recently signed an agreement with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Missouri and Wisconsin. Mr. Conroy on future contracting: "With this progress, and additional contracts in the pipeline, we're approaching an estimated 95 percent patient access to Cologuard with no out-of-pocket costs. We also added 33 million additional covered lives and more than 270 million total lives that are in-plan that now have a positive medical policy for Cologuard."
4. On physician utilization rates: "Cologuard is seeing robust physician adoption with 40,000 new healthcare providers ordering the test in the last year alone. Changing the standard of care in colon cancer screening does take time. That's especially true when we're trying to change behavior across such a large group with a relatively small sales force. To continue improving our sales force efficiency, we have analyzed our current base of healthcare providers to identify a subset of high-potential physician targets. This focused approach is commonly used by primary care sales teams in healthcare."
5. On how Cologuard will adapt to the American Cancer Society's new 45-and-over screening guidelines: "The recent American Cancer Society guidelines update represents a 40 percent increase in the unscreened population and a significant increase in the addressable opportunity for Cologuard. Moving the screen age to — age 45 means that an additional 21 million Americans should be screened for colorectal cancer. Among adults younger than 55 years old, the incidence of colorectal cancer increased 51 percent between 1994 and 2014. Our team is working to expand Cologuard's label to include people in the 45-to 49-year-old age group who are at average risk for colorectal cancer."
6. On marketing Cologuard: "The first thing we've done with the most recent launch of our commercial is juxtapose Cologuard against colonoscopy and making sure that in the narrative of the commercial it's clear to the consumer that Cologuard is a primary choice for colorectal cancer screening with very high sensitivity and very broad coverage."