CareDx Supports UC Davis Health Pluralist Program Aimed at Reducing Health Disparities in Organ Transplantation

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CareDx, Inc. (Nasdaq: CDNA) – The Transplant Company™ focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of clinically differentiated, high-value healthcare solutions for transplant patients and caregivers – today announced that as part of its investment in health equity improvements, it is contributing to a new program led by UC Davis Health that aims to improve knowledge about and access to organ donation and transplantation in underserved communities throughout California.

The project, called Pluralist, which stands for Patient Centered Precision Digital Health Education, focuses on improving awareness and education about organ donation and transplantation in underserved communities. Through educational content developed by a combination of a patient-centered committee, data science, and digital technology, Pluralist hopes to improve awareness about the need for – and increase – organ donations from underserved communities. It also aims to better inform patients in those communities about health interventions that may help them avoid end-stage organ failure and a transplant.

“As a leader in transplant for more than two decades, CareDx is proud to be working with UC Davis Health, one of America’s leaders in health equity and the transplant community, as we address the health disparities that disproportionately affect the underserved,” said Reg Seeto, CEO and President of CareDx. “The Pluralist effort, with its focus on the patient, data, and innovative digital solutions to achieve equality in organ transplantations and donations, aligns very much with our mission and core values focused on delivering innovative patient-centric approaches that tackle systemic challenges in navigating the complex process to transplantation.”

Organ transplants save thousands of lives each year – 41,354 in the U.S. in 2021,¹ a record year – and the need for them continues to grow exponentially. However, the donated organ supply cannot keep up with demand. There are approximately 110,000 on the waiting list for an organ, and 17 people die each day waiting.² Underserved communities are disproportionately fueling the demand for donated organs, especially kidney and heart transplants. Blacks and Hispanics comprise 32 percent of the population but 40 percent of all organ transplants in the U.S.^{3, 4}

“We could not have put all the pieces in place and launched this statewide program without the partnership and contribution of CareDx,” said Martin Cadeiras, MD, Medical Director for the Advanced Heart Failure, Heart Transplantation, and Mechanical Circulatory Support Device Program at UC Davis Health and principal investigator for Pluralist. “Correcting the inequities requires a multidisciplinary effort that challenges traditional interventions, which are falling short.”

The initial pilot program is supported by CareDx and other patient advocacy groups, including Donate Life California and the National Kidney Foundation, is designed to be scalable so that it can be adopted by healthcare providers across the country.

“While we have made significant progress in transplantation outcomes, access to this life-sparing procedure remains a problem. Many people in historically underserved communities are less likely to be placed on transplant waitlists and have a lower likelihood of transplantation, and we need to do more to address these inequities,” said Richard Perez, MD, Chief of Transplant Surgery and Medical Director of the Transplant Center at UC Davis Health. “Under the leadership of Dr. Cadeiras, and the essential support from CareDx and community partners, Pluralist will help identify potential system-wide improvements that would increase organ donations and advance equity in the entire transplantation system.”

CareDx has been a long-standing proponent of health equity in transplantation and supported the important work of patient advocacy groups like the National Kidney Foundation, and most recently joined forces with the national Minority Organ Tissue Transplant and Education Program (MOTTEP), which aims to increase organ donations by minority communities, reverse the incidence of end-stage disease, and educate organ recipients about the importance of medication adherence for long-term survival. CareDx has supported important transplant legislative policies, including the 21^st Century Cures Act to help bring new innovations to patients who need them faster, the Living Donor Protection Act to promote live organ donations and protect donors from discrimination, and most recently through its formation of the “Honor the Gift Coalition,” the passage of the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act of 2019 (Immuno Bill). The Act allows patients to more easily maintain drug treatments essential for survival and preventing graft failure.

About CareDx – The Transplant Company
CareDx, Inc., headquartered in South San Francisco, California, is a leading precision medicine solutions company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of clinically differentiated, high-value healthcare solutions for transplant patients and caregivers. CareDx offers testing services, products, and digital healthcare solutions along the pre- and post-transplant patient journey and is the leading provider of genomics-based information for transplant patients. For more information, please visit: www.CareDx.com.

Forward Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements related to CareDx, Inc., including statements regarding the potential benefits and results that may be achieved with Pluralist and CareDx’s contribution to the Pluralist project. These forward-looking statements are based upon information that is currently available to CareDx and its current expectations, speak only as of the date hereof, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, including risks that CareDx does not realize the expected benefits of Pluralist or CareDx’s contribution to the Pluralist project; general economic and market factors; and other risks discussed in CareDx’s filings with the SEC, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 filed by CareDx with the SEC on February 24, 2022, and other reports that CareDx has filed with the SEC. Any of these may cause CareDx’s actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied by CareDx’s forward-looking statements. CareDx expressly disclaims any obligation, except as required by law, or undertaking to update or revise any such forward-looking statements.

CONTACTS:
CareDx, Inc.
Sasha King
Chief Marketing Officer
415-287-2393
sking@caredx.com

Investor Relations
Ian Cooney
(415) 722-4563
investor@CareDx.com

References:

1. UNOS transplant data, 2021, assessed online April 15, 2021
2. Health Resources and Administration Stats (HRSA), assessed online April 15, 2021
3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/data/view-data-reports/national-data as of 3/01/22
4. U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: United States