LipoScience (Nasdaq: LPDX) is doing business in California, the company confirmed Monday.
The Raleigh-based firm disclosed in an earnings call earlier this month that it had reached an agreement with Scripps Health. The deal was formally announced Monday.
No financial terms were disclosed.
LipoScience, which went public earlier this year, has had a tough time winning market traction for its NMR LipoProfile test. But the company pointed to the Scripps deal as a sign of the improving marketing strategy.
Scripps Health, an integrated health system based in San Diego that treats 500,000 patients annually, recently signed on to use LipoScience’s NMR LipoProfile test at its hospitals. The health system will also use LipoScience’s Vantera, the device used to analyze the tests. Health care providers that do not have the Vantera must send the tests to LipoScience for analysis.
Chief Operating Officer Tim Fisher said in the conference call that LipoScience understands laboratory partners in California better and is using the same approach in other states – understanding the needs of potential partners before entering a new market. LipoScience has 66 total sales representatives in the field. Fisher said he does not expect that total to change for the remainder of the year.
NMR stands for nuclear magnetic resonance. The LipoScience test is based on NMR research developed at and licensed from N.C. State University that uses the technology to measure the density of lipoproteins in a blood sample. LipoScience’s clinical data shows that its tests offer a better gauge of cardiovascular disease compared to the current standard of cholesterol tests.
