MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OPKO Health, Inc. (NYSE:OPK) announced today that the American Medical Association (AMA) Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) Editorial Panel has granted a Category I CPT code for its 4Kscore® Test, the only blood test that accurately identifies an individual patient’s risk for aggressive prostate cancer. This important event upgrades the 4Kscore Test from a Category III Administrative code to a Category I CPT code, a designation reserved for established diagnostic tests, and will provide broader access to the 4Kscore Test to urologists and their patients across the United States.
“The CPT Category I approval is recognition by the leading panel of medical experts in the United States that the 4Kscore Test is now an established diagnostic test addressing an important unmet medical need,” said David Okrongly, Ph.D., President of OPKO Diagnostics. “The multiple peer-reviewed clinical studies, inclusion of the 4Kscore Test in the 2015 National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for Prostate Cancer Early Detection, and the growing adoption of the test in the United States were key factors in the decision by the CPT Editorial Board reviewers.”
“This is a major milestone for the 4Kscore Test toward providing access to the 4Kscore Test for all eligible patients,” said Phillip Frost, M.D., OPKO's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We believe it will help streamline claims processing and accelerate further coverage and adoption decisions by payers, physicians, and patients.”
About the 4Kscore Test
The 4Kscore is the only blood test that accurately identifies an individual patient’s risk for aggressive prostate cancer, the lethal form of prostate cancer. The 4Kscore uses a proprietary algorithm that incorporates the blood levels of four different prostate-derived kallikrein proteins: Total PSA, Free PSA, Intact PSA and Human Kallikrein-2 (hK2), plus the patient's age, and other clinical information to calculate the percentage risk (probability) of finding a Gleason Score 7 or higher grade of prostate cancer. The four kallikrein panel of biomarkers utilized in the 4Kscore Test is based on over a decade of research conducted by scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and leading European institutions and is included as a standard of care in the 2015 NCCN Prostate Cancer Early Detection Guidelines. The 4Kscore Test provides individualized risk for the presence of aggressive prostate cancer and adds new information to the shared decision making discussion between the Urologist and the patient.
About Category I CPT Codes
In addition to facilitating reimbursement in government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, CPT codes are used by other insurance companies and government payers to describe health care services and procedures. The AMA CPT Editorial Panel has established criteria for Category I designation of new diagnostic tests and the details are available on the AMA website. In summary, the Category I criteria include: performance of the test in an appropriately regulated laboratory environment, ordering of the test by many physicians and at a volume consistent with the intended clinical use, demonstration that the use of the test is consistent with current medical guidelines, and published scientific evidence of clinical efficacy.
About OPKO Health
OPKO Health, Inc. is a diversified healthcare company that seeks to establish industry-leading positions in large, rapidly growing markets. Our diagnostics business includes Bio-Reference Laboratories, the nation’s third-largest clinical laboratory with a core genetic testing business and a 420-person salesforce to drive growth and leverage new products, including the 4Kscore® prostate cancer test and the Claros®1 in-office immunoassay platform. Our pharmaceutical business features Rayaldee™, a treatment for secondary hyperparathyroidism in stage 3-4 chronic kidney disease patients with vitamin D deficiency (March 29, 2016 PDUFA date) and VARUBI™ for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (oral formulation approved by FDA and pending launch by partner Tesaro, IV formulation in Phase 3). Our biologics business includes hGH-CTP, a once-weekly human growth hormone injection (in Phase 3 and partnered with Pfizer), and a long-acting Factor VIIa drug for hemophilia (entering Phase 2a). We also have production and distribution assets worldwide, multiple strategic investments and an active business development strategy. More information is available at www.opko.com.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
This press release contains "forward-looking statements," as that term is defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA), which statements may be identified by words such as "expects," "plans," "projects," "will," "may," "anticipates," "believes," "should," "intends," "estimates," and other words of similar meaning, including statements regarding expected benefits of the 4Kscore, the power of the 4Kscore to provide valuable information to accurately identify aggressive prostate cancer and guide clinical decision making, whether it will accurately predict high-grade cancers, improve patient outcomes and reduce health care costs, whether OPKO will successfully commercialize the 4Kscore, and the market for and expected sales of 4Kscore, as well as other non-historical statements about our expectations, beliefs or intentions regarding our business, technologies and products, financial condition, strategies or prospects. Many factors could cause our actual activities or results to differ materially from the activities and results anticipated in forward-looking statements. These factors include those described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the risks inherent in funding, developing and obtaining regulatory approvals of new, commercially-viable and competitive products and treatments. In addition, forward-looking statements may also be adversely affected by general market factors, competitive product development, product availability, federal and state regulations and legislation, the regulatory process for new products and indications, manufacturing issues that may arise, patent positions and litigation, among other factors. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date the statements were made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements. We intend that all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor provisions of the PSLRA.
