NEW YORK – Grail's stock was up more than 18 percent in Wednesday afternoon trading on the Nasdaq after the company said Wednesday morning that Quest Diagnostics had added Grail's multi-cancer early detection test, Galleri, to the roster of blood tests offered across its network of patient access sites.
Grail described the move as the initial phase of a larger program to improve provider access to the Galleri test. With the test available as part of Quest's catalog, more than 500,000 physicians in the US will now be able to directly order the Galleri test through Quest's connectivity system.
Patients who are prescribed the test can, in turn, have a sample taken directly at Quest's approximately 7,400 access points without needing to bring a kit to their appointment.
Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.
Grail recently reported strong growth in its third quarter 2024 revenues, driven by use of the Galleri test, with more than 250,000 tests sold as of Sept. 30, 2024.
At this January's JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, Grail CEO Bob Ragusa added that the firm's launch of a new version of the assay is expected to reduce costs and improve efficiency moving forward.
Over the coming year, Ragusa said Grail expects US Galleri sales to grow between 20 percent and 30 percent year over year.
Shares of Grail finished Wednesday trading up more than 18 percent at $39.26.