Singing River Health System and Renalytix Join Forces to Improve Kidney Health on the Mississippi Gulf Coast

GULF COAST, Miss. and SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Singing River Health System and Renalytix (NASDAQ: RNLX) (LSE: RENX) today announced a partnership to deploy KidneyIntelX™ informed care management to improve kidney health in individuals with type 2 diabetes and early-stage chronic kidney disease. The Renalytix KidneyIntelX platform enables Singing River’s primary and specialty care providers to easily identify and understand a person’s kidney health risks, implement medication and nutrition management, and provide educational intervention on a timely basis. Singing River is a mission-driven healthcare provider with locations spanning across the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a region with one of the highest rates of diabetes in the country. The partnership between Singing River and Renalytix will focus on improving health outcomes and reducing healthcare costs in this high-risk population by driving early detection and providing informed care in seeking to delay disease progression and prevent unnecessary dialysis starts.

“More than 30 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries in Mississippi have diabetes. Racial and economic disparities in care greatly contribute towards this unmistakable health and financial burden in our community,” said Victoria Lewandrowski, System Laboratory Relations Manager, Singing River. “Our partnership with Renalytix will provide a much-needed tool to prioritize earlier identification of chronic kidney disease in type 2 diabetics at the primary care level which aligns with Singing River’s commitment to foster innovation and provide personalized, high-quality care to everyone we serve.”

Approximately 25% of Mississippi’s 3 million residents are currently enrolled in Medicaid health benefits. Reports estimate the state’s direct and indirect costs of diabetes and its associated conditions like chronic kidney disease can be as high as $3.4 billion annually, creating an urgent need for Singing River Health System to utilize innovative technologies to delay and prevent chronic disease progression in this population. Recent data also shows that Mississippi continues to be one of the worst states at providing better outcomes and access to healthcare in the Black and Latinx communities, who are already at an increased risk of developing diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

“From the beginning, Renalytix has been committed to taking immediate action to mitigate racial and economic disparities in kidney disease care,” said Tom McLain, President of Renalytix. “In addition to our new partnership with Singing River, we have secured provider agreements with 27 state Medicaid programs. We believe that precision medicine approaches, including KidneyIntelX, will ensure that the right treatment gets to the right patients, regardless of population type, economic status or health insurance coverage.”

Singing River Health System is the first partner located along the Gulf Coast for Renalytix. The health system expansion of KidneyIntelX is also supported by the recent launch within the General Services Administration, which has granted a 10-year government-wide contract for KidneyIntelX. KidneyIntelX is also covered under various commercial insurance programs.

About Kidney Disease
Kidney disease is now recognized as a public health epidemic affecting over 850 million people globally. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 15% of US adults, or 37 million people, currently have chronic kidney disease (CKD). Further, the CDC reports that 9 out of 10 adults with CKD do not know they have it and one out of two people with very low kidney function who are not on dialysis do not know they have CKD.¹ Kidney disease is referred to as a "silent killer" because it often has no symptoms and can go undetected until a very advanced stage. Each year kidney disease kills more people than breast and prostate cancer.² Every day, 13 patients in the United States die while waiting for a kidney transplant.³

About the Singing River
Singing River Health System is the Mission-Driven, community-based, not-for-profit healthcare provider for the Mississippi Gulf Coast and surrounding areas. Offering award-winning, comprehensive care for every age and stage. Singing River’s three hospitals in Gulfport, Ocean Springs, and Pascagoula, along with partners at Ochsner Medical Center - Hancock, are the coast’s only Leapfrog “A” Rated Hospitals for Patient Safety. Singing River provides the highest quality care in the region through its innovative technology and strong commitment to service. Home to the Gulf Coast’s only designated Center of Excellence in Robotic Surgery and Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care and Spine Surgery. Singing River offers charitable assistance and leads numerous educational and community outreach programs. Strengthening its local economy by recruiting more than 300 of the very best physicians and professionals to the community while providing adequate jobs, wages, and benefits to approximately 3,400 employees and their families. Through this dedication, Singing River improves the health of its community while making it a better place to live and work. Learn more at SingingRiverHealthSystem.com. Stay in tune with us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

About Renalytix
Renalytix (NASDAQ: RNLX) (LSE: RENX) is the global founder and leader in the new field of bioprognosis^TM for kidney health. The company has engineered a new solution that successfully enables early-stage chronic kidney disease, progression risk assessment. The Company’s lead product, KidneyIntelX, has been granted Breakthrough Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is designed to help make significant improvements in kidney disease prognosis, transplant management, clinical care, patient stratification for drug clinical trials, and drug target discovery (visit www.kidneyintelx.com). For more information, visit www.renalytix.com.

About KidneyIntelX
KidneyIntelX, is a first-of-kind solution that enables early-stage diabetic kidney disease (DKD) progression risk assessment by combining diverse data inputs, including validated blood-based biomarkers and personalized data from the patient’s health record, and employs a proprietary algorithm to generate a unique patient risk score. This patient risk score enables prediction of progressive kidney function decline in DKD, allowing physicians and healthcare systems to optimize the allocation of treatments and clinical resources to patients at highest risk.

Sources
1.https://www.cdc.gov/kidneydisease/publications-resources/ckd-national-facts.html
2.https://www.nicresearch.com/clinical-research-necessary-nephrology/
3. https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/

Forward Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Examples of these forward-looking statements include statements concerning: the potential benefits, including economic savings, of KidneyIntelX, the potential for KidneyIntelX to receive regulatory approval from the FDA, the commercial prospects of KidneyIntelX, if approved, including whether KidneyIntelX will be successfully adopted by physicians and distributed and marketed, our expectations regarding reimbursement decisions and the ability of KidneyIntelX to curtail costs of chronic and end-stage kidney disease, optimize care delivery and improve patient outcomes. Words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “seeks,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We may not actually achieve the plans and objectives disclosed in the forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance, or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among others: that KidneyIntelX is based on novel artificial intelligence technologies that are rapidly evolving and potential acceptance, utility and clinical practice remains uncertain; we have only recently commercially launched KidneyIntelX; and risks relating to the impact on our business of the COVID-19 pandemic or similar public health crises. These and other risks are described more fully in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the “Risk Factors” section of our annual report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on October 21, 2021, and other filings we make with the SEC from time to time. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

Media Contacts:
United States:
Chloe Beaudoin
Renalytix
(207) 333-7947
cbeaudoin@renalytix.com                 

Outside of the United States:
Walbrook PR Limited        
Paul McManus / Lianne Applegarth
Tel: 020 7933 8780 or renalytix@walbrookpr.com 
Mob: 07980 541 893 / 07584 391 303

US Investor Contact:
CapComm Partners
Peter DeNardo
investors@renalytix.com
415-389-6400

UK Investor Contact:
Walbrook PR Limited
Paul McManus / Lianne Applegarth
Tel: 020 7933 8780 or renalytix@walbrookpr.com
Mob: 07980 541 893 / 07584 391 303