As part of its ongoing efforts to improve the quality of care and to moderate healthcare costs for patients diagnosed with scoliosis, Axial Biotech, Inc., a company revolutionizing spine care through the development of molecular diagnostic technologies, announced that it has signed a multi-year agreement with the Shriners Hospitals for Children.

The agreement focuses on providing access to the Scoliscore AIS Prognostic Test to patients diagnosed with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis and meet the appropriate indications for use, regardless of their ability to pay for the test. The agreement applies to all of the Shriners Hospitals for Children in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

When a child is diagnosed with mild AIS, an abnormal curvature of the spine, it is often difficult for physicians to predict if the curve will progress to a more severe form of the condition, which may require surgery or other treatments. Now, the Scoliscore Test is helping to reduce the uncertainty of whether or not a curve will progress to a curve larger than 40 degrees, considered possibly needing a fusion, and may help low-risk patients reduce the need for repeated doctor visits, physical examinations, and years of frequent x-rays.

The Scoliscore Test was developed by utilizing a genome-wide association study that identified a panel of genetic markers associated with severe curve progression. The scoliosis research used in the development of this test included collecting DNA samples from over 10,000 patients from over 100 IRB approved clinical sites throughout the world. The test was then further validated in three separate clinical trials.

“This is a significant corporate commitment on our part to provide the Scoliscore Test to assist many of the Shriners patients,” said John Climaco, Axial Biotech's president and CEO. “We fully support the mission of the Shriners Hospitals for Children, and realize that the hospitals are funded by individual donors who have provided charitable donations to allow children access to medical care, who would otherwise not be able to receive it. Because of this, we felt we needed to act to do our part to provide access to this innovative technology.”

The Scoliscore Test is currently offered at more than 150 spine centres in the US, and is co-marketed by DePuy Spine, Inc. and Smith & Nephew.

Axial Biotech, Inc. is the leading developer of molecular diagnostics for common spinal diseases and disorders.

Shriners Hospitals for Children is a one-of-a kind paediatric hospital system dedicated to improving the lives of children through innovative research, education and specialized treatment of orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate.