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IRVINE, Calif. — Biomerica announced on Thursday that CVS Pharmacy has begun in-store sales rollout of the Company’s EZ Detect colorectal disease screening test in over 7,000 stores nationwide throughout the CVS Pharmacy retail system.
Biomerica has shipped the EZ Detect product to CVS Health distribution centers in the US, and the product is projected to be on store shelves in September. The Company is also working with CVS Health to introduce an additional Biomerica product to be sold in CVS pharmacies.
Colorectal cancer (“CRC”) is the second most common cause of cancer death in the United States. In 2023, an estimated 153,000 Americans are projected to be diagnosed with CRC, and an estimated 52,500 are projected to die from the disease, including 19,500 cases and 3,750 deaths in individuals under the age of 50.
The EZ Detect colon disease screening test is the simplest at-home test to detect hidden (occult) blood in a person’s stool, which can be an early warning sign of colorectal diseases, including colon and rectal cancers. The test does not require any handling of stool or dietary restrictions. A person simply places an EZ Detect test pad into the toilet after a bowel movement. A change in the test pad’s color to blue/green, which would appear within two minutes, indicates the presence of blood in the stool. The pad is then simply flushed down the toilet. Patients who see a positive result should consult with their physician for next steps.
In a study performed by Johns Hopkins University, EZ Detect was preferred 10 to 1 by patients over another test. Published studies have also indicated that the best colorectal screening test is “the one that gets done.” Other colorectal screening tests require handling of the stool and sending the stool sample to a lab for processing. Because of the difficulties of handling and mailing stool samples, a high percentage of these competing tests are never completed by patients. This potentially increases the risk for delayed detection of cancer. The EZ Detect test does not require handling of the stool, is simple to perform and provides results at home in just two minutes.
“We’re excited to broaden the distribution of EZ Detect in the US,” commented Zack Irani, CEO of Biomerica. “CVS Pharmacy is the largest Pharmacy system in the USA. Each day, approximately 5 million customers visit a CVS Pharmacy. Early detection is a key factor to beating colorectal cancer. The inclusion of EZ Detect on CVS Pharmacy shelves is a significant development in making our easy and innovative in-home tests available to more patients.”
