Munich Re Life US and GRAIL Enter Partnership to Promote Early Cancer Detection
Collaboration will bring GRAIL’s multi-cancer early detection test to the U.S. life insurance industry
2022/05/11
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New York, NY, May 11, 2022 – Munich Re Life US (Munich Re) and GRAIL, LLC, today announced a partnership to bring GRAIL’s multi-cancer early detection test to the U.S. life insurance industry, promoting proactive screening among eligible life insurance policyholders. Together, Munich Re and GRAIL will work to provide GRAIL’s Galleri® test to U.S. life insurance carriers and distributors, as well as their existing eligible life insurance policyholders.
In a clinical study, the Galleri test demonstrated the ability to detect more than 50 types of cancer, as defined by the American Joint Committee on Cancer Staging Manual, through a single blood draw. Of the more than 50 types of cancer, at least 45 currently lack the recommended screening tests.
Recommended screening tests save lives, but only cover five cancer types in the U.S. – breast, colon, cervical, prostate and – in high-risk adults – lung. Unfortunately, approximately seven in 10 cancer deaths are from cancers that do not have recommended early detection screening tests.
With this partnership, Munich Re becomes GRAIL’s exclusive reinsurance partner to offer Galleri to the U.S. life insurance industry. Munich Re and GRAIL will work collaboratively to educate the life insurance industry on the science and benefit of Galleri and to enable carriers and distributors to offer the test to their existing policyholders as a value-added service.
“Each year, far too many Americans are impacted by cancer, and its toll is often devastating – not only for cancer patients but for the ones they love,” said Marc Giguere, President & CEO, Munich Re Life US. “While medical advancements and new preventative screening measures have helped reduce cancer mortality rates over the years, the sad and stark reality is that there is significant progress still to be made in early cancer detection.”
Giguere added, “As a leading life reinsurer, we believe we have a responsibility to society to help advance early detection and treatments that produce better outcomes for cancer patients. At Munich Re, we are incredibly proud to embark on this journey with GRAIL to bring its pioneering Galleri test to the life insurance industry – to improve the lives of those who may experience cancer first-hand and to build a better, healthier future for all.”
Commenting on the partnership, GRAIL’s President and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Josh Ofman, said, “We continue to lose far too many loved ones each year to cancer, in large part because the majority of cancers are found too late when outcomes are often poor. We are excited to partner with Munich Re to bring the benefits of earlier cancer detection to U.S. life insurance carriers and their policyholders.”
About GalleriThe earlier that cancer is detected, the higher the chance of successful outcomes. The Galleri multi-cancer early detection test can detect more than 50 types of cancer through a routine blood draw. When a cancer signal is detected, the Galleri test predicts the cancer signal origin, or where the cancer is located in the body, with high accuracy to help guide the next steps to diagnosis. The Galleri test requires a prescription from a licensed healthcare provider and should be used in addition to recommended cancer screenings such as mammography, colonoscopy, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, or cervical cancer screening. It is intended for use in people with an elevated risk of cancer, such as those aged 50 or older. For more information about Galleri, visit www.galleri.com.
About GRAIL
GRAIL is a healthcare company whose mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured. GRAIL is focused on saving lives and improving health by pioneering new technologies for early cancer detection. The company is using the power of next-generation sequencing, population-scale clinical studies, and state-of-the-art computer science and data science to overcome one of medicine’s greatest challenges with Galleri, GRAIL’s multi-cancer early detection blood test. With this proprietary technology, GRAIL is also developing solutions to help accelerate cancer diagnoses, blood-based detection for minimal residual disease, and other post-diagnostic applications. GRAIL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Illumina, Inc., is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, with locations in Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and the United Kingdom.
Important Safety Information
Galleri is recommended for use in adults with an elevated risk for cancer, such as those aged 50 or older. The Galleri test does not detect all cancers and should be used in addition to routine cancer screening tests recommended by a healthcare provider. Galleri is intended to detect cancer signals and predict where in the body the cancer signal is located. Results should be interpreted by a healthcare provider in the context of medical history, clinical signs, and symptoms. A test result of “Cancer Signal Not Detected” does not rule out cancer. A test result of “Cancer Signal Detected” requires confirmatory diagnostic evaluation by medically established procedures (e.g., imaging) to confirm cancer. If cancer is not confirmed with further testing, it could mean that cancer is not present or testing was insufficient to detect cancer, including due to the cancer being located in a different part of the body. False positive (a cancer signal detected when cancer is not present) and false negative (a cancer signal not detected when cancer is present) test results do occur. Galleri is prescription only.
Laboratory/Test Information
GRAIL’s clinical laboratory is certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) and accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP). The Galleri test was developed, and its performance characteristics were determined by GRAIL. The Galleri test has not been cleared or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. GRAIL’s clinical laboratory is regulated under CLIA to perform high-complexity testing. The Galleri test is intended for clinical purposes.
About Munich Re Life US
As one of the leading life reinsurers in the United States, Munich Re Life US partners with insurers to leverage smart and connected data, embrace new ideas and technologies, make confident decisions at speed and scale, and gain an exponential understanding of underlying risks. Munich Re Life US is well known in the industry as an innovation leader with extensive technical depth. Its optimized solutions and capital management expertise expand beyond market leading offerings in individual life, group, individual disability and living benefits reinsurance, to a global center for predictive analytics, automated underwriting, digital partnerships and standard-setting underwriting and medical capabilities. Munich Re Life US believes the digital economy offers an unprecedented opportunity for the life insurance industry to rapidly advance risk assessment and close the widening global underinsured gap. Munich Re Life US, incorporated as Munich American Reassurance Company, is a subsidiary of Münchener Rückversicherungs- Gesellschaft Aktiengesellschaft in München (“Munich Re”). It has high ratings for financial strength from A.M. Best Company and Standards & Poors. Munich Re Life US serves clients throughout the United States from its two locations in New York and Atlanta.
About Munich Re
Munich Re is one of the world’s leading providers of reinsurance, primary insurance and insurance-related risk solutions. The group consists of the reinsurance and ERGO business segments, as well as the capital investment company MEAG. Munich Re is globally active and operates in all lines of the insurance business. Its tailor-made solutions and close proximity to its customers make Munich Re one of the world’s most sought-after risk partners for businesses, institutions, and private individuals.
Media Contact
Katelyn Makuh
Director, Marketing & Communications
Munich Re North America Life
Kmakuh@munichre.com