Houston, USA — August 13, 2026
Cerenome, Inc. announced that its wholly owned subsidiary CNSide Diagnostics, LLC has signed an in-network provider agreement with Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), expanding contracted access for the CNSide® Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) Tumor Cell Enumeration assay to approximately 153 million commercial and Medicare Advantage covered lives in the United States. The agreement, effective August 1, 2026, represents a significant commercial coverage milestone for CNSide and enables access to approximately 27.3 million additional covered lives represented by HCSC. HCSC operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Texas, Illinois, Montana, New Mexico and Oklahoma, while also offering Medicare Advantage plans across multiple U.S. states. With this agreement, Cerenome has exceeded its full-year 2026 objective of 150 million contracted covered lives ahead of schedule, strengthening the commercial foundation for broader physician adoption and utilization of its CNS cancer diagnostic platform.
HCSC Agreement Strengthens CNSide Commercial Reach
The HCSC agreement is an important step in Cerenome’s ongoing effort to establish broad reimbursement coverage for CNSide across the U.S. Commercial payer agreements can play an important role in expanding access to laboratory-developed diagnostic tests by improving the reimbursement environment for healthcare providers and supporting patient access. CNSide is designed to provide quantitative analysis of cerebrospinal fluid tumor cells and is intended to support clinical decision-making for patients with leptomeningeal metastases (LM), a serious complication of advanced cancer involving the central nervous system. Cerenome said the platform is intended to support diagnosis, treatment monitoring and treatment guidance, making the expansion of payer coverage particularly relevant to the company’s commercial strategy. The latest agreement also moves the company beyond its previously established coverage target, positioning CNSide for continued expansion among U.S. oncology providers and institutions..
CNSide Builds Clinical and Commercial Adoption
Cerenome’s commercial progress is supported by growing use of CNSide across the U.S. Since 2020, more than 11,000 CNSide tests have been performed at over 120 U.S. cancer institutions, including academic and community oncology practices. The company has also cited 12 peer-reviewed publications and prospective multicenter evidence from the FORESEE clinical study supporting the clinical utility of CNSide compared with conventional approaches. The assay is designed specifically to identify and quantify tumor cells present in cerebrospinal fluid, providing clinicians with information that can contribute to the management of patients with leptomeningeal disease. By increasing contracted payer coverage, Cerenome is working to connect its existing clinical experience with a larger reimbursed patient population. The HCSC agreement therefore represents not simply an insurance milestone, but an important component of the company’s broader CNSide commercialization and adoption strategy.
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Cerenome Advances Integrated CNS Oncology Strategy
The expanded CNSide coverage also fits within Cerenome’s broader strategy of integrating precision diagnostics, targeted therapeutics and artificial intelligence into a single CNS oncology platform. Alongside CNSide Diagnostics, the company is advancing REYOBIQ™ (rhenium Re186 obisbemeda), a targeted radiotherapy being evaluated in clinical programs involving leptomeningeal metastases, recurrent glioblastoma and pediatric brain cancer. Cerenome is also developing a data and artificial intelligence platform intended to integrate diagnostic, molecular, imaging and clinical information to support advanced analysis across CNS oncology. With the latest HCSC agreement, the company has reached approximately 153 million contracted commercial and Medicare Advantage covered lives, exceeding its 2026 target and creating a broader commercial platform for CNSide. The company now aims to build on this coverage by increasing reimbursement, physician adoption and utilization, while continuing to expand its diagnostic offering for patients affected by CNS cancers.
Source: Cerenome press relese
