Khush F. Mehta Joins CardioDx as Chief Executive Officer

REDWOOD CITY, CA--(Marketwired - Jun 1, 2016) - CardioDx, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company specializing in cardiovascular genomics, announced today the appointment of Khush Mehta as President, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the Board of Directors of CardioDx. With a proven track record for commercial success and execution in the global healthcare industry, Mehta will help drive the organization to the next level of commercial growth, value creation for its stakeholders, and the expansion of the company's product portfolio through innovation and partnerships. He will focus on overseeing the day-to-day operations and accelerating profitable growth in the near and long-term. As CEO, Mehta succeeds David Levison, who has been named the Chief Strategy Officer of the company.

With more than 20 years in the healthcare industry, Mehta brings a wealth of experience in strategic business development and operations to CardioDx. Prior to joining CardioDx, he served as the Global Head of the Healthcare Enterprise Solutions at Siemens. Mehta has also held additional executive leadership roles at Siemens Healthcare, including Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Siemens Healthcare Asia Pacific. He earned a Bachelor and a Master of Commerce and Economics at the Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics in Mumbai, India along with a Master of Business Administration in competitive strategies and international finance from Yale University.

"This is an exciting time of change within healthcare. Khush is a proven leader with a track record for execution, clear business vision, and a demonstrated record for driving growth and profitability for companies," said Ajit Singh, Chairman of the Board. "With his extensive years of leadership experience, Khush has a deep understanding of the global healthcare marketplace and its supply chain, and possesses strong operational acumen to drive commercial success in the U.S. and international markets. Having worked with Khush previously, I know that his skills will accelerate the next phase of expanded growth and innovation."

"I am honored and excited to lead CardioDx in advancing the commercialization of the Corus CAD test during this transformational time within the healthcare industry," said Khush Mehta, Chief Executive Officer of CardioDx. "The PROMISE trial substudy recently presented at the 65th American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Meeting further underscored the science behind our test that gives physicians an effective solution for clinical decision-making for obstructive coronary artery disease.¹ I look forward to working with the entire CardioDx team as we embark on this journey for improving the quality of cardiovascular care."

As the Chief Strategy Officer, Levison, the founder of CardioDx, will lead the company in business development, health payer coverage, and next generation technology. "Since the company was founded in 2004, CardioDx has had a strong commitment to improving healthcare quality and efficiency through genomic technologies and expanding patient access to new diagnostic tests that provide precision medicine in cardiovascular medicine," said David Levison, Chief Strategy Officer of CardioDx. "With that continued promise, I am excited to focus my attention in the clinical and genomic diagnostics space and look forward to supporting further expanded patient access and the delivery of next generation products to patients worldwide."

"I am very pleased that David will continue to add his industry knowledge and expertise as we embark on the next phase of growth. As the Founder and CEO, his leadership for more than a decade has taken the company from concept to having served more than 175,000 patients and thousands of clinicians in a dynamic healthcare environment. We are grateful to David's dedication to the organization, and I look forward to his future contributions," said Ajit Singh.

About Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a very common heart condition in the United States. One in seven deaths among Americans is caused by CAD.² CAD can cause a narrowing or blockage of the coronary arteries (vessels to the heart that supply the heart with blood, oxygen, and nutrients), reducing blood flow to the heart muscle. This narrowing or blockage in the coronary arteries is often referred to as obstructive CAD, characterized by the presence of atherosclerosis, or plaque.

About the Corus CAD Test
Corus CAD is the first and only commercially available blood test that can safely and conveniently help primary care clinicians and cardiologists assess whether or not a stable non-diabetic patient's symptoms may be due to obstructive coronary artery disease. The test incorporates age, sex and gene expression measurements into a single score that indicates the likelihood of obstructive CAD. Clinicians use the Corus CAD score, along with other clinical information, to determine whether further cardiac testing is necessary, which can help patients avoid unnecessary exposure to radiation associated with medical imaging testing, as well as possible reactions to imaging dyes and/or potential complications from invasive cardiac tests requiring catheterization. The test involves a routine blood draw that is conveniently administered in the clinician's office or clinical laboratory patient service center. The Corus CAD test is the only sex-specific test for the evaluation of obstructive CAD because it accounts for cardiovascular differences between men and women.

The test has been clinically validated in independent male and female patient cohorts, including two prospective, multicenter U.S. studies, PREDICT and COMPASS.^3,4 In the COMPASS study, the Corus CAD test outperformed myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) as a diagnostic tool to exclude obstructive CAD by demonstrating a higher negative predictive value (96% vs. 88%, p < 0.001) than MPI for assessing the presence of obstructive CAD.⁵ To date, more than 150,000 Corus CAD test results have been provided to clinicians. CardioDx processes all Corus CAD test samples at its CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited clinical laboratory in Redwood City, California.

The Corus CAD test has been recognized by The Wall Street Journal's Technology Innovation Awards, honored as a Gold Edison Award recipient, and named one of TIME's Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs.

About CardioDx
CardioDx, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company specializing in cardiovascular genomics, is committed to developing clinically validated tests that empower clinicians to better tailor care to each individual patient. Strategically focused on coronary artery disease, CardioDx is committed to expanding patient access and improving healthcare quality and efficiency through the commercialization of genomic technologies. Please visit www.cardiodx.com for additional information.

* Obstructive CAD is defined as at least one atherosclerotic plaque causing ≥ 50% luminal diameter stenosis in a major coronary artery ( ≥ 1.5 mm lumen diameter) as determined by invasive quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) or coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) ( ≥ 2.0 mm).
References
¹ Voora D, Coles A, Lee K, et al. An Age- and Sex-specific Peripheral Blood Gene Expression Score Correlates with Future Cardiovascular Events: Insights from the PROMISE trial. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2016; 67(13_S):2094-2094.
² Mozaffarian D, Benjamin EJ, Go AS, et al. On Behalf of the American Heart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics - 2015 Update: A Report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2015;131(4):e29-e322.
³ Rosenberg S, Elashoff MR, Beineke P, et al. Multicenter Validation of the Diagnostic Accuracy of a Blood-Based Gene Expression Test for Assessing Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease in Nondiabetic Patients. Ann Intern Med. 2010;153:425-434.
⁴ Thomas GS, Voros S, McPherson JA, et al. A Blood-Based Gene Expression Test for Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease Tested in Symptomatic Nondiabetic Patients Referred for Myocardial Perfusion Imaging: The COMPASS Study. Circ Cardiovasc Genet. 2013;6(2):154-162.
⁵ The COMPASS study demonstrated that the Corus CAD algorithm has an NPV of 96% at the pre-specified threshold of 15 in a population of men and women referred to MPI.