PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

CardioDx, Inc. announced today that President and CEO, David Levison, and Chief Medical Officer, Mark Monane, M.D., will present at the 5th Annual Personalized Medicine World Conference (PMWC) on Tuesday, January 29, 2013 in Mountain View, CA. Mr. Levison will provide a company perspective on the reimbursement pathway for molecular diagnostic tests, and Dr. Monane will present an overview of Corus CAD, the only clinically validated gene expression test for obstructive coronary artery disease.

Corus CAD is a decision-making tool that can help primary care clinicians and cardiologists exclude obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) as the cause of a stable non-diabetic patient's symptoms. The test involves a routine blood draw conveniently administered in the clinicians office, and does not expose patients to radiation or imaging agent intolerance. It is the only sex-specific test for obstructive CAD, accounting for critical biological differences between men and women. Corus CAD has now been used to assess more than 35,000 U.S. patients.

We are living in one of the most exciting times in the evolution of medicine, and 2013 promises to be a pivotal year in the clinical adoption of personalized diagnostics and treatments, said Levison. By applying genomics to healthcare decision making, a healthcare practitioner can act on information that provides real-time insights on a patients disease state and prescribe the most suitable course of treatment for that patient. Unlike genetic tests which can only try to predict a persons predisposition to specific diseases, the Corus CAD gene expression test can help primary care clinicians and cardiologists exclude the diagnosis of obstructive CAD early in the diagnostic pathway, thus helping clinicians make better patient management decisions that may lead to improved quality of patient care, while lowering overall costs to the healthcare system.

Mr. Levison will present A Company Perspective on Reimbursement, discussing the opportunities and challenges in obtaining reimbursement coverage for molecular diagnostics and personalized medicine. Levison will share knowledge gained from the CardioDx experience in obtaining Medicare coverage for more than 40 million Medicare enrollees in the U.S. for the Corus CAD test. He will also review successful clinical strategies for working with payers to achieve positive coverage decisions and examine the role of Palmetto GBAs MolDx Program in clarifying the process and requirements for coverage. The presentation will take place on January 29 at 11:00 AM PT as part of Track 1, Session 4: Economics of PM.

Dr. Monane will provide an overview of CardioDx and Corus CAD, the only clinically validated cardiovascular genomic test designed to help clinicians safely, accurately, and conveniently determine from a blood sample whether their patients symptoms are due to blockages in the heart arteries. Corus CAD is a gene expression test that integrates the expression levels of 23 genes involved in the development of and/or response to atherosclerosis into a single score, which has been proven to accurately identify patients without obstructive CAD. Gene expression tests enable clinicians to act on genomic information and provide patients a more tailored management plan. The presentation is titled, Noninvasive Testing for Coronary Artery Disease and will take place on January 29 at 9:30 AM PT as part of Track 2, Session 7: Diagnostics and Healthcare Treatment.

About Corus CAD

Corus CAD is the first and only clinically validated blood-based test for the assessment of obstructive coronary artery disease. The test involves a routine blood draw conveniently administered in the clinicians office and does not expose patients to risks of radiation or imaging agent intolerance. It is the first sex-specific test for obstructive coronary artery disease, accounting for critical biological differences between men and women. The test has been honored as a winner of The Wall Street Journal's prestigious Technology Innovation Awards and one of TIME's Top Ten Medical Breakthroughs and is a finalist for the 2012 Edison Awards. Findings from the PREDICT validation study of the Corus CAD gene expression test were published in 2010 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the journal of the American College of Physicians.

The Corus CAD test measures the RNA levels of 23 genes from a whole blood sample. Because these RNA levels are increased or decreased when obstructive coronary artery disease is present, the Corus CAD score indicates the likelihood that an individual patient does not have obstructive coronary artery disease.

Corus CAD is commercially available through an innovative patient sample kit that includes everything needed for blood collection and express delivery to the companys CLIA-certified Palo Alto, Calif. laboratory. Test results are delivered promptly to the clinicians office. Corus CAD is currently available in the United States.

More here:

CardioDx’s Leadership to Speak at the 5th Annual Personalized Medicine World Conference