Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

Binx Health, Wellfleet Expand Insurance Deal to Cover At-Home, In-Dorm STI Testing for US Students

NEW YORK ─ Boston-based Binx Health will provide access to sexually transmitted infection testing for US college students as part of an expanded agreement with health insurer Wellfleet, the companies announced Wednesday.

The agreement will enable students in US colleges and universities that offer health insurance through Wellfleet to get tested through a Binx at-home and in-dorm digital platform.

Financial and other terms of the expanded agreement were not disclosed.

In October 2020, Binx and Springfield, Massachusetts-based Wellfleet, a Berkshire Hathaway company, had announced an agreement that enabled college students to do at-home and in-dorm sample collection for COVID-19 testing using Binx's enterprise solutions for population health screening.

In March, the US Food and Drug Administration granted a CLIA waiver to Binx for its io CT/NG Assay, which runs on the firm's PCR-based io instrument and detects and distinguishes Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in approximately 30 minutes using either female vaginal swab or male urine specimens.

In February, Binx announced a partnership with McKesson for the sale and distribution of the Binx io testing platform in the US.

The Scan

RNA Editing in Octopuses Seems to Help Acclimation to Shifts in Water Temperature

A paper in Cell reports that octopuses use RNA editing to help them adjust to different water temperatures.

Topical Compound to Block EGFR Inhibitors May Ease Skin Toxicities, Study Finds

A topical treatment described in Science Translational Medicine may limit skin toxicities seen with EGFR inhibitor therapy.

Dozen Genetic Loci Linked to Preeclampsia Risk in New GWAS

An analysis of genome-wide association study data in JAMA Cardiology finds genetic loci linked to preeclampsia that have ties to blood pressure.

Cancer Survival Linked to Mutational Burden in Pan-Cancer Analysis

A pan-cancer paper appearing in JCO Precision Oncology suggests tumor mutation patterns provide clues for predicting cancer survival that are independent of other prognostic factors.