
GRAIL Expand Access to Galleri® Multi-Cancer Early Detection Blood Test to Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care in First Commercial Health Plan Collaboration
Point32Health, the parent company of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, along with GRAIL, LLC, a healthcare company specializing in early cancer detection, have announced an expansion of their pilot program to provide GRAIL’s innovative Galleri® multi-cancer early detection screening test. This initiative aims to offer members of certain health plans early cancer detection opportunities and is now available to eligible individuals whose primary care provider (PCP) is affiliated with Mass General Brigham. It is applicable to those under a Harvard Pilgrim Health Care or Tufts Health Plan employer-sponsored plan or a Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Massachusetts Connector plan.
Point32Health is the first commercial health plan in the United States to collaborate with GRAIL to offer its Galleri screening test in addition to recommended cancer screenings. The initial pilot program provided free access to Galleri for eligible Point32Health employees and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care members who purchased insurance on the Maine health insurance marketplace. The expansion of the pilot will now include access for Point32Health’s Commercial Tufts Health Plan or Harvard Pilgrim Health Care members who meet the eligibility criteria for the test and have a Mass General Brigham affiliated primary care provider. As part of this pilot, the Mass General Cancer Center’s Early Detection and Diagnostics Clinic will assess eligible participants for cancer risk and provide the test at no cost to those members.
In a clinical study, the Galleri test demonstrated the ability to detect a shared cancer signal across more than 50 types of cancer with a positive predictive value of 43.1%., over 45 of which currently lack recommended screening tests, and it boasts a low false positive rate of less than one percent. Galleri can also accurately predict the origin of the cancer signal when detected.
“A new, population-scale approach for screening people for cancers before symptoms appear may result in finding many more cancers in earlier stages, when outcomes are more likely to be favorable. Dramatically increasing the number of cancers detected by screening holds the potential to reduce the impacts of late-stage cancer,” noted Josh Ofman, MD, MSHS, president at GRAIL. “We applaud Point32Health and its forward-thinking approach to multi-cancer early detection. We are excited to expand the pilot and increase access to Galleri within the Mass General Brigham network, which shares a commitment to bridging the gap between clinical care and research in cancer screening and detection.”