Kaiser Permanente Southern California and Vermillion Collaborate to Improve Best-Practice Care for Women with Ovarian Cancer

AUSTIN, Texas, April 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Vermillion, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRML), a bio-analytical solutions company focused on gynecologic disease, today announced the initiation of a strategic partnership with Kaiser Permanente's Southern California Permanente Medical Group ("SCPMG") in order to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer. The collaboration further advances Vermillion's landmark alliances with health care organizations to develop breakthrough solutions for the improvement of quality and evidence-based care for women.

The ultimate goal of this collaboration is to create a "best practice" for identification and "first time right" treatment of patients with ovarian cancer. Recent publications continue to highlight a dire national status quo for women with ovarian cancer, in which the majority of cases are detected at a late stage with very poor prospects for 5-year survival, despite the existence of treatment pathways that have been shown to improve survival by as much as 30%.

The first phase of this quality program aims to conduct a benchmarking study of quality issues related to the initial diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer among Kaiser Permanente Southern California members through the use of electronic health records. The analysis will track patient care pathways from the initial presentation, to surgical intervention, diagnosis, initial treatment, and early post-surgical outcomes. In addition to publishing important medical quality benchmarks, the study will assess opportunities to improve patient workup, specialist referral and optimize utilization of system-wide healthcare resources.

This benchmarking study will help identify the earliest opportunity for intervention in the care of patients with ovarian cancer. By examining the care received by patients across the Southern California network, the team will seek to pinpoint opportunities to improve care, including providing more rapid access to the appropriate physicians and reducing inefficiencies in patient care, as well as overall costs. Understanding the patterns of care for affected women and their touchpoints within Kaiser Permanente's integrated care system should give a better assessment of potential care improvements for women with ovarian cancer.

The study will be directed from within the Women and Children's Service Line of Kaiser Permanente, Orange County, with the opportunity in the future to collaborate further in identifying the role that innovative diagnostics, such as OVA1 and succeeding second generation tests, could play in informing ovarian cancer treatment decisions to better serve patients and optimize the effectiveness of healthcare delivery.

Valerie Palmieri, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vermillion, stated: "At Vermillion, we are committed to improving ovarian cancer outcomes. Our contribution will be measured not only in how we affect the lives of women and their loved ones, but also by our contribution to value-enhancing best practices for leading healthcare organizations, such as Kaiser Permanente. We are delighted to help address this important healthcare challenge with such dedicated and capable partners."

About Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente's mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve approximately 9.6 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/share.

About Vermillion Vermillion, Inc. is dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel high-value diagnostic and bio-analytical solutions that help physicians diagnose, treat and improve gynecologic health outcomes for women. Vermillion, along with its prestigious scientific collaborators, have diagnostic programs in gynecologic disease. The company's lead diagnostic, OVA1®, is a blood test for pre-surgical assessment of ovarian tumors for malignancy, using an innovative algorithmic approach. As the first FDA-cleared, protein-based In Vitro Diagnostic Multivariate Index Assay, OVA1 represents a new class of software-based diagnostics. For additional information, including published clinical trials, visit www.vermillion.com.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that involve significant risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding the study conducted by Vermillion and SCPMG and the achievement of improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer. Words such as "may," "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "plans," "seeks," "could," "should," "continue," "will," "potential," "projects" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on Vermillion's expectations as of the date of this press release. A variety of factors could cause actual results and experience to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements, including those that are described in Vermillion's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Vermillion expressly disclaims any obligation to update, amend or clarify any forward-looking statements to reflect events, new information or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release, except as required by law.

Investor Relations Contact:  Michael Wood  LifeSci Advisors LLC  Tel 1-646-597-6983  [email protected]

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SOURCE Vermillion, Inc.