Additional Coverage:
- A $700 blood test promises to detect 50 different kinds of cancer. The results come with major caveats. (businessinsider.com)
Hims & Hers Brings High-End Cancer Screening to the Masses – For a Price
San Francisco, CA – Telehealth giant Hims & Hers is making waves with a new offering that aims to democratize access to advanced cancer screening, previously a perk of the ultra-wealthy. Following a Super Bowl ad that playfully jabbed at “rich people” and their quest for eternal youth, the company is now providing Grail’s Galleri test – a multi-cancer early detection blood test – to its subscribers. However, the “affordable” price tag still hovers around the $1,000 mark annually.
The Hims & Hers Super Bowl commercial, which aired this past weekend, cheekily suggested that wealth buys not just possessions, but also “more time.” It then pivoted to argue that the “wealth gap is a health gap,” advocating for everyday individuals to access the same cutting-edge biological testing enjoyed by clients of elite concierge medicine services. This includes everything from regular blood draws and GLP-1 drugs to, yes, peptides, and now, a sophisticated blood test for cancer screening.
The Grail Galleri test, now integrated into Hims & Hers’ “proactive care” suite, promises to detect signals of over 50 different types of cancer from just two vials of blood. This includes cancers that are notoriously difficult to screen for routinely, such as pancreatic and ovarian cancer.
The allure lies in potentially catching these diseases earlier, before they’ve progressed to later stages where treatment options are often more limited. Currently, over half of all cancer cases in the US are diagnosed at stages 3 or 4.
The Catch: Cost and Efficacy
While Hims & Hers is offering the Galleri test at a discounted rate of $700 – $250 less than its retail price – there’s a significant upfront cost. Customers must first subscribe to a $350 annual lab membership, which covers tests for cardiometabolic health and hormone levels. This brings the total cost for the Galleri test and membership to $1,050 per year.
The technology behind the Galleri test involves detecting cancerous DNA shed into a person’s bloodstream. This mechanism, while promising, also highlights a key limitation: the test is more adept at identifying advanced cancers than early-stage ones. A 2021 study revealed that it detected only about 17% of stage 1 cancers, compared to over 90% of stage 4 cancers.
Ongoing studies, including one involving 35,000 participants, show the Galleri test boasts over 99% specificity, meaning a positive result is highly likely to indicate cancer. However, its overall detection rate for all cancers stands at approximately 40%. This suggests that while it’s accurate when it does find cancer, there’s a greater than 50% chance it could miss a cancer that is present.
Hims & Hers Chief Medical Officer Patrick Carroll emphasizes that the company is diligently educating its doctors and nurse practitioners on how to convey these nuances to patients. “It’s a screening, not a diagnostic test,” he clarified, underscoring that the Galleri test is not a substitute for standard-of-care screenings like mammograms or colonoscopies.
A Complement, Not a Replacement
Experts like Professor Anna Schuh from the University of Oxford have expressed reservations about the test’s “low pick up rate” for early cancers and its high cost, suggesting it’s not yet suitable for broad population screening.
Even Grail founder Jeff Huber, the company’s former CEO, views the Galleri test as a complement to other cancer screening methods. He personally combines his annual Galleri test with a full-body MRI and age-appropriate screenings. “It’s a compliment” to other cancer testing, Huber said, also expressing his frustration that Grail currently remains a “rich people product.”
Hims & Hers’ move, partly fueled by a $325 million private placement investment in Grail last October, reflects a growing customer demand for such advanced biomarker testing. Carroll noted that patients have been specifically asking for Grail by name.
As competitors, such as Exact Sciences with their new $689 Cancerguard blood test, emerge in the multi-cancer screening market, the landscape is evolving. Carroll believes that by keeping these tests below the $1,500-$2,000 mark, more individuals on high-deductible health plans will opt for them, acknowledging that many are already paying significant out-of-pocket costs for healthcare.
Ultimately, the vision, as articulated by Huber, is for the Galleri test to eventually become a “$100 test that’s reimbursed” and integrated into annual check-ups. For now, Hims & Hers offers a telehealth screening and a trip to Quest labs for a blood draw, promising “no connections required” – a step towards making advanced cancer screening more accessible, albeit still with a hefty price tag.