Exagen Inc. Expands Coverage with Inland Empire Health Plan, Partnering to Provide More Accurate Diagnostic Testing with AVISE® CTD and AVISE Lupus

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Exagen Inc. (Nasdaq: XGN), a leading provider of autoimmune testing solutions, announced today that AVISE® CTD and AVISE Lupus are a contracted covered service with Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP), providing enhanced care to over 1.4 million members. The agreement also makes AVISE diagnostic testing available as an in-network benefit.

“We are grateful to be partnering with Inland Empire Health Plan. This partnership provides IEHP members and providers a timely and accurate differential diagnosis to improve outcomes for complex autoimmune diseases, including Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE),” said Ron Rocca, Exagen’s President and CEO. “It takes an average of 6 years to be identified with SLE, and delayed intervention can lead to irreversible organ damage. SLE, which is two to three times more prevalent among women of color than among Caucasian women, is an unpredictable and misunderstood disease that ravages different parts of the body. It is difficult to diagnose, hard to live with, a challenge to treat, and can be fatal.”

About Exagen Inc.

Exagen is dedicated to transforming the care continuum for patients suffering from debilitating and chronic autoimmune diseases by enabling timely differential diagnosis and optimizing therapeutic intervention. Exagen has developed and is commercializing a portfolio of innovative testing products under its AVISE® brand, several of which are based on our proprietary Cell-Bound Complement Activation Products, or CB-CAPs, technology. Exagen’s goal is to enable providers to improve care for patients through the differential diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of complex autoimmune and autoimmune-related diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. For further information please visit www.exagen.com.

About IEHP – Inland Empire Health Plan

With a mission to heal and inspire the human spirit, Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) is one of the top 10 largest Medicaid health plans and the largest not-for-profit Medicare-Medicaid plan in the country. In its 25th year, IEHP is supporting more than 1.4 million residents in Riverside and San Bernardino counties who are enrolled in Medicaid or Cal MediConnect Plans and has a growing network of over 7,300 providers and nearly 2,500 Team Members. Through dynamic partnerships with Providers and Community Organizations, paired with award-winning service and a tradition of quality care, IEHP is fully committed to their vision: We will not rest until our communities enjoy optimal care and vibrant health. For more information, visit iehp.org. 

Forward Looking Statements

Exagen cautions you that statements in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on Exagen's current beliefs and expectations. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expected benefits of the positive medical policy coverage for the AVISE CTD and AVISE Lupus tests with Inland Empire Health Plan, including the availability and expected use of the AVISE CTD and AVISE Lupus tests through the Inland Empire Health Plan, and any potential for increased use of the AVISE CTD and AVISE Lupus laboratory tests. The inclusion of forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by Exagen that any of its plans will be achieved. Actual results may differ from those set forth in this press release due to the risks and uncertainties inherent in Exagen’s business, including, without limitation: the COVID-19 pandemic may continue to adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, including as a result of shutdowns of our facilities and operations as well as those of our suppliers and courier services, impeding patient movement and interruptions to healthcare services causing a decrease in test volumes, disruptions to the supply chain of material needed for our tests, our sales and commercialization activities and our ability to receive specimens and perform or deliver the results from our tests, delays in reimbursement and coverage decisions from Medicare and third-party payers and in interactions with regulatory authorities, and delays in ongoing and planned clinical trials involving our tests; the company’s commercial success depends upon attaining and maintaining significant market acceptance of its testing products and promoted therapeutics among rheumatologists, patients, third-party payers and others in the medical community; the company’s ability to successfully execute on its business strategies, including its strategy of integrating the promotion of its existing and future proprietary testing products with the promotion of therapeutics; third party payers not providing coverage and adequate reimbursement for the company’s testing products or promoted therapeutics; the company’s ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for its testing products; regulatory developments affecting the company’s business; and other risks described in the company’s prior press releases and the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including under the heading “Risk Factors” in Exagen’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and any subsequent filings with the SEC. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof, and Exagen undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date hereof. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, which is made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

CONTACTS:

Investor Relations
Exagen Inc.
Ryan Douglas
rdouglas@exagen.com 
760.560.1525

Company
Exagen Inc.
Kamal Adawi, Chief Financial Officer
kadawi@exagen.com 
760.477.5514