Exact Sciences Corp. and Pfizer Inc. announced an agreement through 2021 to co-promote Cologuard, the only FDA-approved non-invasive stool DNA screening test for colorectal cancer. Pfizer will join the Exact Sciences sales representatives in reaching both physicians and health systems and will also actively participate in extending and deepening the Cologuard marketing campaign.
Exact Sciences brings a sales force with expertise in colorectal cancer, the innovative science of Cologuard and a recognizable direct-to-consumer marketing campaign. Pfizer brings a large and experienced sales force and relationships integrating with the leading health systems, two areas where Cologuard is most often prescribed.
Under the agreement, Pfizer will co-promote Cologuard with Exact Sciences beginning in the fourth quarter of 2018. Exact Sciences will maintain responsibility for all aspects of manufacturing and laboratory operations of Cologuard. Pfizer will share gross profits and marketing expenses equally above an agreed upon baseline.
Cologuard was approved by the FDA in August 2014 and results from Exact Sciences’ prospective 90-site, point-in-time, 10,000-patient pivotal trial were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in April 2014. Cologuard is included in the American Cancer Society’s 2018 colorectal cancer screening guidelines and the 2016 recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
Cologuard is indicated to screen adults of either sex, 50 years or older, who are at typical average-risk for CRC. Cologuard is not for everyone; not for high risk individuals, including those with a family history of colorectal cancer, a personal history of cancer or advanced adenoma, IBD, and certain hereditary syndromes. Positive Cologuard results should be referred to diagnostic colonoscopy.
