Quest Diagnostics (DGX) 7th Annual Healthcare Symposium summary

Key themes and industry context

• The symposium focused on the challenges of an aging population, rising healthcare spending, and the need for improved access to innovation, especially in cancer detection and prevention.

• Multi-cancer early detection (MCED) was highlighted as a transformative approach, with panelists representing diverse strategies: broad multi-cancer tests, indication-specific launches, and risk-based screening.

• Partnerships across diagnostics, pharma, payers, and healthcare systems are seen as essential for scaling access, building evidence, and integrating new technologies into care pathways.

• The shift toward viewing cancer as a chronic, manageable condition underpins the push for earlier detection and risk stratification.

• The event emphasized the importance of education, stakeholder engagement, and policy advocacy to drive adoption and reimbursement for new screening technologies.

Innovations in multi-cancer early detection

• Companies are developing blood-based tests capable of detecting multiple cancers, with some focusing on shared cancer signals and others on sequential, indication-specific expansion.

• Early detection is expected to significantly reduce late-stage cancer incidence and mortality, with economic models projecting substantial cost savings and improved outcomes.

• Real-world evidence, biobank data, and AI are being leveraged to refine risk assessment and support regulatory and payer acceptance.

• Partnerships with large diagnostic networks enable broader access and facilitate integration with primary care and electronic health records.

• Ongoing trials and collaborations with academic centers aim to validate new biomarkers and risk-based screening approaches.

Market access, reimbursement, and policy

• Demonstrating clinical utility and cost-effectiveness is critical for payer and government adoption; legislative efforts are underway to secure Medicare coverage for MCED.

• Annual screening cadence is recommended, with emphasis on complementing—not replacing—standard of care screenings.

• Stakeholders are advocating for diagnostics to be valued more highly in the healthcare payment structure, recognizing their role in improving outcomes and reducing downstream costs.

• Public health agencies and population health frameworks are increasingly involved, with large-scale studies and risk-based approaches being developed.

• The need for ongoing education of clinicians, patients, and payers is seen as vital to drive adoption and optimize the impact of new screening technologies.