Some nice news...
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ViroLogic's HIV Drug Resistance Tests Approved for Reimbursement by
Medi-Cal, Nation's Largest Medicaid Program -- Move Greatly Expands Access to
Rapid HIV Resistance Testing; ViroLogic Also Approved as Testing Facility --
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Mar 28, 2001 (BW HealthWire) -- ViroLogic, Inc.
(NASDAQ: VLGC) announced today that Medi-Cal, the nation's largest Medicaid
program, has approved reimbursement for the company's PhenoSense(TM) HIV and
GeneSeq(TM) HIV drug resistance tests. The company also announced that Medi-Cal
has certified ViroLogic as an approved phenotypic and genotypic testing
facility, making it the only such Medi-Cal approved testing facility in the U.S.
The moves significantly increase access to ViroLogic's tests, making them
available to approximately 27,000 Californians living with HIV covered by the
Medi-Cal program. The new Medi-Cal coverage guidelines specify that up to four
resistance tests per year will be provided as necessary for each HIV patient
under Medi-Cal. Specifically, PhenoSense HIV, the most broadly available
phenotypic HIV drug resistance test performed in the U.S., is the only
phenotypic test approved for reimbursement by the Medi-Cal program.
"The Medi-Cal decision demonstrates growing payer confidence that resistance
testing helps improve treatment and reduce the overall cost of care," said Bill
Young, Chairman and CEO of ViroLogic. "In an era of individualized patient
management, this decision is good news for physicians and patients, who need the
fast, reliable information PhenoSense and GeneSeq provide to guide therapy."
The decision by Medi-Cal, which serves more patients than any other state
Medicaid program and often sets the standard for other public and private
payers, makes California the tenth state to approve Medicaid reimbursement for
ViroLogic's resistance tests. More HIV/AIDS patients live in California than in
any other state except New York, which has provided Medicaid reimbursement for
the tests since November 2000.
Medicaid is the single largest payer for patients with HIV/AIDS. Medicare, which
covers 10% of HIV patients nationally, already provides coverage for PhenoSense
HIV and GeneSeq HIV. In addition to Medicaid and Medicare coverage, federally
mandated AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) provide PhenoSense HIV and
GeneSeq HIV reimbursement in several states, including California and New York.
Many private payers, including Aetna US Healthcare, also provide coverage for
the two tests.
Recently released data show that HIV drug resistance, which is associated with
about 75% of HIV treatment failures, is on the rise in both newly diagnosed and
treatment-experienced patients. PhenoSense HIV and GeneSeq HIV, developed in
response to this growing problem, help physicians overcome resistance by
providing an individualized drug susceptibility profile in each patient for all
of the available HIV drugs. This allows for more effective treatment tailored to
the individual patient.
Recent research has shown that drug resistance testing lowers the costs of HIV
patient management. Last week, a study published in the Annals of Internal
Medicine concluded that drug resistance testing is "cost effective" in selecting
patient drug regimens. By allowing physicians to avoid ineffective treatments,
resistance testing can help ensure that healthcare resources are efficiently
directed, benefiting patients, physicians and payers.
Questions about HIV drug resistance testing and reimbursement can be directed to
ViroLogic's reimbursement hotline at 1-87-PHENOAID (1-877-436-6243), or to the
websites virologic.com and phenosense.com.
About ViroLogic
ViroLogic, a pioneer and leader in individualized medicine, is a biotechnology
company developing and marketing innovative products to guide and improve
treatment of viral diseases. The company's proprietary technology tests for drug
resistance and susceptibility in viruses that cause serious diseases such as
AIDS, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
ViroLogic's first product, PhenoSense(TM) HIV, directly and quantitatively
measures resistance of a patient's HIV to antiviral drugs. The company's second
product, GeneSeq(TM) HIV, is a genotypic test that detects genetic mutations in
HIV that are known to be associated with drug resistance. In clinical practice,
the test results provide physicians with important information to help select
appropriate drugs for their HIV patients. In new drug development, the results
are used by pharmaceutical companies to develop new and improved therapeutics
that can be effective in an increasingly drug-resistant environment.
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking, including
statements relating to the performance of the company's testing products and
third party reimbursement for those products. These forward-looking statements
are subject to risks and uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual
results to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations
expressed in such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to, whether PhenoSense(TM) and GeneSeq(TM) testing
will achieve market acceptance, whether payers will authorize reimbursement for
our products, whether we will be able to expand our sales and marketing
capabilities, whether we encounter problems or delays in automating our process,
whether we successfully introduce new products using our PhenoSense(TM)
technology, whether intellectual property underlying our PhenoSense(TM)
technology is adequate, whether we are able to build brand loyalty, and other
risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in our reports to the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including our report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2000.
CONTACT: Sidney Ho, Director of Public Affairs
(650) 635-1100, Ext. 7406
sho@virologic.com |
