Renalytix appoints VP to oversee Veterans Health rollout

Renalytix announced the expansion of its commercial strategy to address early-stage kidney disease in the United States Veterans Health Administration (VA) patient population on Thursday, with the appointment of Jed Fulk to the position of vice-president of sales to government accounts.

The AIM-traded firm said Fulk would be developing and leading a team expected to grow to 42 regional sales managers and account executives during 2022, to support the rollout of ‘KidneyIntelX’ to the VA health system.

It said KidneyIntelX would be deployed to help VA primary care physicians to identify diabetic kidney disease (DKD) patients at high- and low-risk of rapid progression and kidney failure.

The company described the Veterans Health Administration as the largest integrated health care system in the US, providing care at 1,293 health care facilities, including 171 medical centres and 1,112 outpatient sites of varying complexity, serving nine million enrolled veterans each year.

It said the veteran population had a one-third higher chronic kidney disease (CKD) and DKD prevalence than the general population, which had been attributed to the significant multi-morbidity and higher mean age in the group.

The prevalence of DKD in veterans was estimated to be between 4% and 14%, meaning between 0.5 million and one million individuals.

Renalytix said the economic cost of providing healthcare to veterans with kidney disease was high, and increasing rapidly.

Excluding costs associated with dialysis, $17.9bn was spent on care for veterans with CKD in 2014.

An update to the VA and Department of Defense (DoD) clinical practice guideline for the management of CKD in 2020 identified the need for accurate risk assessment in patients with early-stage kidney disease.

KidneyIntelX and associated care management tools would provide information essential to realising the directive's goals for appropriate pharmacy management, promoting communication and collaboration between care providers - particularly between nephrologists and primary care physicians - and developing a patient-centered plan for treatment and education about kidney disease.

“Renalytix was awarded a 10-year Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) in April to provide KidneyIntelX early-stage kidney disease testing services,” the board said in its statement.

“The contract, offered through the General Services Administration (GSA), covers KidneyIntelX laboratory testing services that can be provided through more than 140 US government departments, agencies and affiliates, including the VA.

“The GSA contract enables Renalytix to initiate efforts towards multiple integrated model deployments with government hospital systems.”

At 1127 BST, shares in Renalytix were down 0.53% at 750p.