Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

BCBS Illinois to Cover Trovagene Liquid Biopsy Tests

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Trovagene announced today that it has signed an in-network provider agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, establishing access for plan members to the company's full line of Trovera liquid biopsy tests.

This product line currently includes assays performed on either blood or urine, which detect mutations in EGFR, KRAS, and BRAF.

According to Trovagene CEO Bill Welch, the agreement with BCBSIL is one step in a larger reimbursement strategy for the company. Trovagene said it has secured contracts with payors covering about 168 million lives, so far.

BCBSIL is the largest health insurance company in Illinois and has 8 million members.

In its second quarter earnings report earlier this month, Trovagene said it had published data demonstrating that Trovera was able to identify EGFR T790M mutations in both the urine and blood of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer and had high concordance with tumor tissue.

The company also said it entered into a clinical collaboration with the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center to investigate the early detection of pancreatic cancer and to monitor patient response to therapy using the Trovera KRAS ctDNA urine and blood tests, and that it would collaborate with the University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center to establish a standardized framework for the use of Trovera ctDNA testing in urine samples.

Trovagene's shares rose 5 percent to $5.87 in morning trading on the Nasdaq.

The Scan

Cell Signaling Pathway Identified as Metastasis Suppressor

A new study in Nature homes in on the STING pathway as a suppressor of metastasis in a mouse model of lung cancer.

Using Bees to Gain Insights into Urban Microbiomes

As bees buzz around, they pick up debris that provides insight into the metagenome of their surroundings, researchers report in Environmental Microbiome.

Age, Genetic Risk Tied to Blood Lipid Changes in New Study

A study appearing in JAMA Network Open suggests strategies to address high lipid levels should focus on individuals with high genetic risk and at specific ages.

Study Examines Insights Gained by Adjunct Trio RNA Sequencing in Complex Pediatric Disease Cases

Researchers in AJHG explore the diagnostic utility of adding parent-child RNA-seq to genome sequencing in dozens of families with complex, undiagnosed genetic disease.