Quest Diagnostics, Clinical Genomics Ally, Oncology Strong

Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE:DGX) and Clinical Genomics, a major player in the field of colorectal cancer detection, jointly announced the FDA clearance of the latter’s InSure ONE.

With the FDA approval, Quest Diagnostics will make InSure ONE available to its broad base of physicians, organized provider groups and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) across the United States. InSure ONE is expected to be commercially available in early 2018. This development will remain a part of Quest Diagnostics’ consistent effort to successfully pave its way through the growing field of cancer diagnostics.

As a useful at-home collection fecal immunochemical test (FIT), InSure ONE improves compliance for screening programs. Among other InSure FIT tests, InSure ONE detects human hemoglobin from blood in fecal samples to aid in the detection of lower gastrointestinal bleeding. While other FIT tests require two samples, InSure ONE needs just a single specimen to run the screening successfully.

Given the fact that FIT has been accepted as the guideline recommended for screening programs for an early detection of adenomatous polyps, precursors to cancer and colorectal cancer (in individuals of average risk starting at age 50 years), the role of InSure FIT tests is gaining more importance by the day. Considering this situation, both the companies view that this uncomplicated procedure of InSure ONE may better fix the problem of patient non-participation for screening programs as well.

The latest strategic development with Clinical Genomics is in sync with Quest Diagnostics’ goal to gain a leadership position in the high-potential global oncology diagnostic market. Notably, Quest Diagnostics has recently acquired Med Fusion and Clear Point forming a national precision oncology center of expertise.

Per the data provided by American Cancer Society, nearly 1.7 million people are expected to be diagnosed with cancer in the United States by the end of 2017. Also, per Markets and Markets, the global cancer diagnostics market is expected to reach a level worth $13.1 billion by 2020 at a CAGR of 12.9% during 2015-2020. Accordingly, we are upbeat about a promising customer adoption rate of InSure ONE down the line.

Quest Diagnostics outperformed the broader industry with respect to share price movement over the past six months. As per the last share price movement, the company has lost 14.5% in this period, narrower than the 17.2% loss of the broader industry.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Quest Diagnostics carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A few better-ranked stocks in the broader medical sector are PetMed Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:PETS) , Luminex Corp. (NASDAQ:LMNX) and Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN) , all three sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

PetMed has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 10%. The stock has soared roughly 78.6% over a year.

Luminex has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 16.3%. The stock has gained 1.9% in a year.

Myriad Genetics has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 15%. The stock has surged 76.4% in a year’s time.

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