Bupa UK insurance to cover Oxford BioDynamics’ EpiSwitch® PSE prostate cancer test
- Bupa UK insurance customers with a raised PSA level and no additional high risk factors or symptoms will now be covered for PSE, a smart blood test which accurately predicts the presence or absence of prostate cancer
- Expansion of OBD/Bupa UK insurance partnership beyond existing coverage of CiRT significantly enhances access to PSE in the UK
- Coverage for both OBD’s PSE and CiRT3 tests reflects Bupa's commitment to leveraging advanced precision medicine testing to transform cancer care
Oxford, UK – 13 March 2025 – Oxford BioDynamics Plc (AIM: OBD), a precision clinical diagnostics company bringing specific and sensitive tests to the practice of medicine based on its EpiSwitch® 3D genomics platform, and Bupa announce an expanded strategic agreement to give its health insurance customers access to OBD's EpiSwitch PSE prostate cancer detection test. Bupa is a leading health insurer in the UK with around 3.9m customers.
Robin Clark, Medical Director for Bupa Insurance, said: “We're pleased to partner with Oxford BioDynamics to cover the advanced EpiSwitch PSE test. The PSE provides a more accurate path to diagnosing prostate cancer, where getting an early diagnosis can make the disease nearly completely survivable. Offering the PSE and CiRT tests reflects our commitment to leverage the most advanced precision medicine testing to provide doctors with the tools they need to make informed decisions.”
Under this new agreement, the PSE test will be funded for Bupa health insurance customers with a raised prostate-specific antigen level and no additional high-risk factors or urinary symptoms.
The EpiSwitch PSE is OBD’s validated, rapid, highly accurate blood test for prostate cancer (accuracy 94%, specificity 97%, sensitivity 86%)1, significantly boosting the accuracy of PSA alone. Crucially, the positive predictive value (PPV) of PSE is 93%, compared to just 25% for PSA. PSA’s low PPV is one of the main arguments against using it as a population-wide screening test. About 25% of men with a raised PSA will go on to be diagnosed with prostate cancer. With the PSE, more than 9 out of every 10 men who receive a positive "high likelihood" PSE will go on to have a confirmatory biopsy1. This level of performance can reduce the total number of men who do not have prostate cancer being referred for unnecessary MRI scans and invasive biopsies2. These clinical results are supported by an accumulation of real-world evidence related to the clinical utility.
Iain Ross, Executive Chairman of OBD, said: “Joining forces with a pioneering healthcare insurer like Bupa ensures that more men have access to an accurate diagnosis by using the EpiSwitch PSE test. Prostate Cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, and yet there is currently no nationwide screening programme due to limitations of current testing modalities. With its high accuracy and PPV, EpiSwitch PSE can be integrated into existing pathways to more precisely direct individuals toward further expensive and invasive diagnostics and treatments. We remain focused on forging strategic partnerships to build on this momentum and continue to drive value.”
