Guardant Health Partners with PathGroup to Expand Reach of Shield Blood Test for Early Cancer Detection

Guardant Health has partnered with PathGroup to expand the reach of its FDA-approved Shield blood test for early cancer detection. The partnership will bring Shield to over 250 hospitals and health systems, 15,000 physicians, and 5 million patients across 25 states. PathGroup will integrate Shield into its electronic ordering systems and provide expertise in performing immunohistochemistry testing. The partnership aims to simplify the screening process and bring the benefits of Shield to millions of patients.

Guardant Health, Inc. (Nasdaq: GH), a leading precision oncology company, has announced a strategic partnership with PathGroup, one of the nation’s leading partners to physicians, hospitals, and healthcare networks nationwide. This collaboration aims to significantly expand the reach of Guardant’s FDA-approved Shield™ blood test for early cancer detection.

The partnership will bring Shield to over 250 hospitals and health systems, more than 15,000 PathGroup-affiliated physicians across 25 states, and allow more than five million patients to benefit from Guardant’s industry-leading Shield blood test annually [1]. PathGroup will integrate Shield into its robust electronic ordering systems across its health system partners, enabling providers to add Shield seamlessly within their existing clinical workflow.

Guardant Health co-CEO AmirAli Talasaz highlighted the significance of the partnership, stating, “This partnership with PathGroup represents an important milestone in our mission to bring the pleasant and convenient screening option of Shield to as many people as possible and accelerate our commercial distribution plans.” Talasaz added, “By combining Shield’s lifesaving innovation with PathGroup’s extensive physician and hospital network, we can bring the benefits of Shield to millions of patients who might otherwise face barriers to screening.”

PathGroup’s Senior Vice President and Chief Genomics Officer, Pranil K. Chandra, DO, FCAP, FASCP, expressed pride in the collaboration, noting, “We are proud to partner with Guardant Health to expand access to the cutting-edge technology Shield provides with a simple blood draw.” Chandra emphasized that the collaboration will not only simplify the workflow for providers but also help deliver life-saving early detection to patients across the communities PathGroup serves.

Shield is the first and only blood test approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a primary screening option for CRC, the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. CRC has a 91 percent five-year survival rate if caught in early stages. However, one out of three eligible adults in the U.S., over 50 million people, do not complete the recommended screening in part because they find other available options unpleasant or inconvenient. Through PathGroup’s network that includes phlebotomists and Patient Service Centers, more patients in community and rural settings will be able to access CRC screening through a simple blood draw from Shield.

In addition to expanding access, the partnership will enable PathGroup’s digitally enabled histopathology lab and physician team to provide expertise in performing immunohistochemistry (IHC) testing for Guardant. Guardant’s IHC test suite provides comprehensive testing for key biomarkers in all solid tumors.

Guardant Health Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws, including statements regarding the potential utilities, values, benefits, and advantages of Guardant Health’s liquid biopsy tests or assays, which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results and expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions, and actual outcomes and results could differ materially from these statements due to a number of factors. These and additional risks and uncertainties that could affect Guardant Health’s financial and operating results and cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release include those discussed under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation” and elsewhere in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and in its other reports filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Guardant Health as of the date hereof, and Guardant Health disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements provided to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Guardant Health’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

References
[1] https://www.stocktitan.net/news/GH/guardant-health-announces-partnership-with-path-group-bringing-66wv9y66t682.html
[2] https://www.marketscreener.com/news/guardant-health-announces-partnership-with-pathgroup-bringing-shield-blood-test-to-250-hospitals-an-ce7d59dedf89f72d