Benzinga | Jul 22, 2021 09:31AM EDT

PAVmed's Lucid Diagnostics Highlights Launch Of Strategic Partnership With Direct-To-Consumer Telemedicine Co., UpScriptHealth, No Terms Disclosed

PAVmed Inc. (NASDAQ:PAVM, PAVMZ))))) (the "Company" or "PAVmed"), a highly differentiated, multi-product, commercial-stage medical technology company, today announced that its major subsidiary Lucid Diagnostics Inc. ("Lucid") has entered into a definitive agreement with UpScriptHealth ("UpScript"), a leading, nationwide, direct-to-consumer telemedicine company. Pursuant to the agreement, UpScript will support Lucid's upcoming EsoGuard Telemedicine Program by providing a Lucid-branded web-based telemedicine platform for patients with chronic heartburn symptoms to request video evaluation by a physician and, if clinically indicated, referral for Lucid's EsoGuard(r) Esophageal DNA Test ("EsoGuard").

"An important pillar of our growth strategy is to educate consumers on the link between chronic heart burn and esophageal cancer, and the availability of a simple, office-based test to detect esophageal precancer before it progresses to esophageal cancer," said Lishan Aklog, M.D., PAVmed's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Lucid's Executive Chairman. "We are excited to partner with UpScript, which pioneered online healthcare prescribing, to launch our EsoGuard Telemedicine Program, initially in Arizona and eventually nationwide, to accommodate consumer interest in EsoGuard testing. We believe, based on the experience of other successful early cancer detection companies, that a such a telemedicine program with direct-to-consumer engagement can accelerate commercialization and become a key driver of long-term growth."

Millions of patients with chronic heartburn, also known as gastroesophageal reflux disease ("GERD"), are at risk of developing esophageal precancer and highly lethal esophageal cancer. EsoGuard is a next-generation sequencing based DNA methylation assay performed on esophageal cells collected using Lucid's EsoCheck(r) Cell Collection Device in a less-than five-minute office procedure. Lucid believes EsoGuard and EsoCheck constitute the first and only commercially available test capable of serving as a widespread screening tool to prevent esophageal cancer deaths, through the early detection of esophageal precancer in at-risk GERD patients.

Lucid is in the process of launching a network of Lucid Test Centers, initially in the Phoenix area, where patients can undergo the EsoCheck procedure, performed by a trained Lucid clinician, to collect cells for EsoGuard testing. The test centers will support expansion of Lucid's EsoGuard commercialization efforts beyond gastroenterologists to include primary care physicians and consumers. At-risk GERD patients who respond to Lucid's direct-to-consumer educational and marketing efforts will be directed to participate in the EsoGuard Telemedicine Program. An UpScript-managed telemedicine physician will perform a video evaluation of the patient and, if clinically appropriate, refer the patient to a Lucid Test Center to undergo the EsoCheck cell collection procedure and EsoGuard testing on the collected sample. The telemedicine physician will receive the EsoGuard test result and arrange the appropriate follow-up care. After completing the pilot program in Phoenix, Lucid intends to expand its Lucid Test Centers and EsoGuard Telemedicine Program regionally in Western U.S. states, and then nationwide.