There’s nothing like a major positive healthcare study to add credibility to a product. Just ask Howard Doran, chief executive officer at LipoScience (Nasdaq: LPDX).
During a conference call to discuss the Raleigh-based firm’s most recent earnings on Tuesday, Doran touted the study from the research arm of healthcare giant WellPoint as being an “important inflexion point” for adoption of the firm’s cholesterol test.
LipoScience ended a profitable contract with a partner earlier this year; sales suffered, and the company made layoffs. But the firm’s fortunes took a big turn toward positive territory in June with the release of the HealthCore study that found what Doran described as “dramatic” results.
“The good news here is the NMR LipoProfile test is completely consistent with what health systems and payers are looking for the ability to use a relatively low cost diagnostic test to improve patient outcomes,” Doran told analysts.
With results of the study in hand, Doran said LipoScience’s sales force is up to speed and ready to capitalize.
Cashing In
Here’s part of what Doran had to say, based on a transcript of the earnings call as provided by the financial news website SeekingAlpha:
“The study demonstrates the significant reduction of cardiovascular risk among high risk patients attaining a low LDL particle versus a low LDL cholesterol measure. The data is compelling demonstrating an approximate 25% yearly reduction in the relative risk of cardiovascular events for each of the three year studied when patients achieve the low LDL particle number compared to patients who achieve similarly low LDL cholesterol.
“This improvement in outcomes is achieved because our test identifies high risk patients that require additional management or additional drug therapies. The study evaluate a cardiovascular events among over 4,000 patients who have had high risk of having an event including patients coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetics or those on statin therapy. …
“The approximate 25% reduction of the relative risk of cardiovascular events from the use of the NMR LipoProfile tests to manage is dramatic when put into context with other preventative interventions. As you’re probably aware over the past 30 years statin drugs have been the most potent and widely used medications in reducing cardiovascular risks.
“Broadly numerous definitive statin trails have shown a 25% to 40% cardiovascular relative risk reduction. More recently in the largest med analysis of statin therapy to-date published last year in the European journal of preventative cardiologist or cardiology, statins were found to reduce the relative risk of coronary events by 31%.
“In contrast using the NMR LipoProfile test to manage patients to an LDL particle goal has the potential to reduce the relative risk of cardiovascular events and incremental 25%. That’s on top of the benefit from statin therapy. The good news here is the NMR LipoProfile test is completely consistent with what health systems and payers are looking for the ability to use a relatively low cost diagnostic test to improve patient outcomes. Specifically, by reducing the number of high cost events like heart attacks or stroke and lower healthcare costs. The HealthCore study is the exciting gain changing data that we believe is important to increase adoption by physicians and increase coverage by payers.
“We anticipate the full magnitude of this outcome study will be broadly understood in the marketplace over the next several quarters as LipoScience continues to communicate the data to physicians and payers. We believe this is an important inflexion point for the adoption of NMR LipoProfile test and our company.”
The full transcript can be read online.
LipoScience went public last year.
