Diagnostic company Immunovia AB (STO: IMMNOV) reported on Monday that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published a preliminary payment determination implying a price of USD897 for the IMMray PanCan-d test, a blood test for early detection of pancreatic cancer.

CMS is a federal agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services that provides health coverage to more than 100 million people in the US and sets the basis for payment for lab tests through the clinical lab free schedule (CLFS).

Immunovia stated that CMS agreed with the recommendation made by the Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Tests (CDLT) Advisory Panel to crosswalk IMMray PanCan-d rate to code 81503, brand name OVA1, which currently has a price of USD897. Following a period of public comment, CMS will finalise its basis for payment decision in November 2022.

Philipp Mathieu, CEO and President of Immunovia, commented: "Receiving the preliminary payment determination is an additional milestone on the previously communicated path for commercialisation in the US. We are very pleased that the rate preliminarily determined by CMS appropriately values our innovative blood-based test for pancreatic cancer. While this does not represent a coverage determination to reimburse the IMMray PanCan-d test, it is an important step in the process of securing reimbursement for the IMMray PanCan-d test in the early detection of pancreatic cancer."