Research Highlights Freenome's Blood Test for Colorectal Cancer to Primary Care Physicians

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Freenome, a privately held biotech company, presented at the American Association of Family Practitioners (AAFP) Family Medicine Experience virtual meeting last week. The poster¹ describes the development of Freenome's multiomics blood test for the detection of early-stage colorectal cancer (CRC) and its validation study. The study, called PREEMPT CRC, is the largest registrational study to date for a noninvasive test for CRC screening in an average-risk population.

PREEMPT CRC, builds on the results from a study at last year's American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO) Gastroenterology annual meeting, that demonstrated Freenome's blood test detected early-stage (I/II) CRC with a sensitivity of 94% and specificity of 94%.

Freenome's multiomics approach combines tumor and non-tumor signals from DNA and protein and uses machine learning to detect CRC and advanced adenomas. The registrational study, PREEMPT CRC, is a large, multi-center study of average-risk participants that uses both traditional and virtual recruitment to ensure a diverse and representative clinical trial population.

"Regular screenings can help detect colorectal cancer early, providing a better chance of survival," said Theodore R. Levin, M.D., clinical lead for colorectal cancer screening for the Permanente Medical Group, research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, principal investigator of PREEMPT CRC and co-author of the study. "Continued research will help us develop a test that makes it easier for patients to be screened, ultimately saving more lives."

Currently, only 67% of average-risk individuals over the age of 50 are up to date on CRC screening,² which is likely to decrease even more with new guideline changes recommending lowering the age to initiate CRC screening from 50 to 45.³

"This presentation demonstrates how our multiomics platform works in detecting early-stage colorectal cancer," said Mike Nolan, chief executive officer of Freenome. "We want to make CRC screening easy and accessible, so as we near the completion of PREEMPT CRC, we're driven to accomplish that goal."

About Freenome
Freenome is a biotechnology company with the most comprehensive multiomics platform for early cancer detection using a routine blood draw. The company combines its deep expertise in molecular biology with advanced computational biology and machine learning to detect disease-associated patterns among billions of circulating cell-free biomarkers. Freenome is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

¹Girish Putcha, Jeff Gregg, Chuanbo Xu, Freenome Holdings, Inc.; Aasma Shaukat, University of Minnesota; Theodore R. Levin, Kaiser Permanente Division of Research.
²Joseph DA, King JB, Dowling NF, Thomas CC, Richardson LC. Vital Signs: Colorectal Cancer Screening Test Use — United States, 2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020;69:253–259.
³United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), May 18, 2021; American Cancer Society.

SOURCE Freenome Holdings, Inc.