TORONTO, March 31, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GeneNews Limited (“GeneNews” or the “Company”) (TSX:GEN) today announced that it has entered into a collaboration agreement (the “Agreement”) with JTS Health Partners (“JTS”), a leading national healthcare management consulting and professional services firm based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Under the Agreement, JTS will accelerate adoption of GeneNews’ menu of proprietary cancer tests, including its lead ColonSentry® blood-test for assessing an individual's current risk for colorectal cancer. JTS will also work to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of GeneNews’ revenue cycle management operations.
Through business acceleration efforts, both parties will work to pursue and secure multi-year agreements with hospitals, clinical integrated networks, physician groups and healthcare organizations for GeneNews’ risk assessment testing services, which assist healthcare professionals in the risk stratification of patient populations through early cancer detection. As part of the partnership, JTS will provide GeneNews with management consulting services, assisting with the implementation of billing practices to help the Company maximize revenue collection. The Agreement has an initial term of five (5) years, and is renewable annually thereafter by mutual consent. JTS will take an equity position in GeneNews. Financial details of the Agreement have not been disclosed.
Through its Innovative Diagnostics Laboratory (“IDL”) subsidiary, GeneNews offers an extensive menu of advanced cancer assays that assist patients and their physicians find early cancer indicators, providing information that is required to pursue the next level of screening, while helping physicians to encourage their patients to adopt lifestyle changes that could lower their cancer risks. IDL is currently making its risk stratification tests for colorectal cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer available across the United States.
"Healthcare delivery is changing. It is a new, integrated service, fee-for-value model where healthcare providers are increasingly being held accountable for their commitment to disease prevention and ensuring that patients at risk for selected conditions get the appropriate screening. The role for diagnostic labs like ours is also changing - we need to be an integrated part of the solution,” commented GeneNews Executive Chairman, James R. Howard-Tripp.
“JTS, a leading healthcare management consulting firm that assists healthcare groups and hospital systems to constantly improve their operations and systems, is a perfect partner to introduce GeneNews' risk stratification tests as part of the solution to the disease service line prevention model," continued Mr. Howard-Tripp. “IDL’s diagnostic testing fills a key void in cancer screening by helping to identify early cancer indicators, which helps to improve patient adherence, reduce industry costs, and utilize healthcare resources more effectively, all through convenient blood tests. Overall, we believe this collaboration will help physicians and healthcare systems better serve their patients and adopt a population health model that will put them at the forefront of personalized medicine.”
“At JTS, we are always looking to partner with innovative healthcare companies. GeneNews has compelling technology, which not only positively impacts patient outcomes, but also reduce costs within the broader healthcare system,” said Thomas Stewart, President, CEO and Co-Founder at JTS. “With GeneNews’ menu of diagnostic tests for early cancer detection, we are working with an industry innovator. We look forward to being a part of increasing awareness and adoption with world-class testing, while maximizing GeneNews’ revenue cycle management operations. We're excited to work with GeneNews to advance science and technology across the broader healthcare ecosystem and optimize patient health as well as systemic cost and quality.”
About GeneNews
GeneNews is focused on developing and commercializing proprietary molecular diagnostic tests for the early detection of diseases and personalized health management, with a primary focus on cancer-related indications. The Company's lead product, ColonSentry®, is the world's first blood test to assess an individual's current risk for colorectal cancer. GeneNews' common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol 'GEN'. More information on GeneNews can be found at www.GeneNews.com.
About IDL
Richmond, Virgina-based IDL is a national clinical reference lab specializing in personalized blood-based testing to help find, understand, and address cancer risk in patient populations. IDL’s mission is to provide a comprehensive menu of traditional and advanced clinical evidence-based blood tests that aid in early cancer detection. Currently IDL offers risk assessment blood tests for the three most prevalent cancer types including lung, colon and prostate. IDL is actively in-licensing and commercializing an array of DNA, RNA, protein and autoantibody blood-based cancer diagnostic tests to address early detection of all major types of cancer.
About JTS
Formed in 2002 as a technology professional services company, JTS has evolved to become a leading healthcare management consulting and professional services firm dedicated to meeting the needs of the nation’s many top healthcare organizations in both the private and public sector.
JTS’s healthcare management consulting and services portfolio is focused on enterprise advisory planning, health information management, information technology, financial and revenue cycle management. The company also works on operational performance improvement initiatives for hospitals and physicians, inclusive of data analytics, and offers other professional services that include staff augmentation for the acute and physician settings. More information on JTS can be found at www.jtshealthpartners.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements identified by words such as "expects", "will" and similar expressions, which reflect the Company's current expectations regarding future events, including the restructuring of its business. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and material assumptions - including those related to general business and economic conditions as well as our ability to complete an orderly restructuring of the Company's operations which may include a strategic financing, sale, merger, or other business combination - that could cause the Company's actual events to differ materially from those projected herein. Investors should consult the Company's ongoing quarterly filings and annual reports for additional information on risks and uncertainties relating to these forward-looking statements. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.