It’s Super Bowl Sunday in Arizona this weekend, but the healthcare industry’s Super Bowl played out earlier this month at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.

In a field crowded with established players with big news of their own, including Roche's buzz-worthy acquisition of a major stake in Foundation Medicine, Exact’s ability to deliver on our promises during the past year helped us stand out from the pack. 

After speaking at the conference in past years, this year’s presentation before a standing-room-only crowd was especially fulfilling because of the significant milestones the Exact team achieved in 2014.

This included the publication of the pivotal Deep-C study results in the New England Journal of Medicine, the FDA’s approval of Cologuard and a final CMS coverage and pricing determination. Now, less than six months after approval we are seeing rapid clinician adoption and a direct impact on patients.

Scott’s story* underscores our mission at Exact: playing a leading role in the early detection and prevention of colon cancer.  As I mentioned at J.P. Morgan, that may sound lofty but Cologuard’s early successes and the enthusiasm of the conference’s attendees confirms that we are firmly on our way toward achieving that goal. This is exemplified by the strong early launch numbers from Cologuard, which include:

• More than 9,800 physician prescribers registering to offer Cologuard to patients, with 4,000 actively ordering.
• 75% of patients complying with their Cologuard prescriptions. A large percentage of these patients are people who have never been screened for colon cancer in the past, illustrating the unmet patients that we’re reaching.
• Multiple health systems—including the Mayo Clinic, MDVIP, Meriter-UnityPoint Health, Group Health Cooperative and Mercy Hospital St. Louis — signing on to offer Cologuard.
• The American Cancer Society including Cologuard in its Colorectal Cancer Prevention and Early Detection national guidelines, marking a pivotal benchmark in providing patients and clinicians with information and access to the test.

At J.P. Morgan, Cologuard generated extraordinary excitement among investors, journalists and veteran healthcare experts who inquired about the test’s tremendous potential to help increase colon cancer screening rates.

As we look ahead toward 2015, we remain firmly focused on three goals: expanding physician and patient access to Cologuard, offering world class customer service and expanding our pipeline in the war against the deadliest cancers.

*Exact Sciences named Scott Coward (featured in the video) Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the company effective January 1, 2015.