Aviva is a Top 4 Provider of Private Medical Insurance in the UK

By Joining AXA, Approximately 45% of Patients With Private Insurance Now Have Access to Nociscan in the Greater London Spine Care Market

BROOMFIELD, CO, July 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aclarion, Inc., (“Aclarion” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: ACON, ACONW), a healthcare technology company that is leveraging biomarkers and proprietary augmented intelligence algorithms to help physicians identify the location of chronic low back pain, announced today an additional key milestone with their second payer coverage of Nociscan by Aviva in London, UK in conjunction with The London Clinic, one of the UK’s largest and most renowned independent hospitals. Aviva is a leading provider of private medical insurance in the UK and joins private medical insurance provider, AXA, in covering Nociscan for patients suffering from chronic low back pain.

“This second payer coverage decision builds the momentum we expect to see in markets once one payer recognizes the advantages of paying for Nociscan,” said Brent Ness, CEO of Aclarion. “When you look at other diagnostic companies that market imaging combined with AI decision support solutions, you tend to see steady product adoption and value creation once payer coverage decisions are secured. HeartFlow in the cardiology space is a perfect example. Similar to Aclarion, they received their first payer coverage decision in the UK and were able to parlay that into a steady march towards standard of care and tremendous value creation for investors. I was a member of the early commercial development team at HeartFlow and intend to apply the same successful formula to Aclarion where we are addressing the larger market of low back pain. We welcome the second vote of confidence and key validation from UK payers and look forward to more.”

In the UK, self-pay and private medical insurance are estimated to represent nearly 70% of private hospital revenues, with private medical insurance becoming increasingly popular. Aviva is one of the four leading private medical insurers in the UK with an estimated 14% of the private medical insurance market and an estimated 1.2 million insured customers. By joining AXA, the 2^nd largest private medical insurer with roughly a 30% market share and 3 million covered lives, Nociscan is now available to 45% of patients with private insurance in the greater London area.

The London Clinic and their expert spine physicians have adopted Nociscan as an important decision support tool to be used when diagnosing and treating their chronic low back pain patients. Low back pain has been estimated to affect up to one third of the UK adult population each year. Aclarion’s Nociscan solution is the first evidence-supported SaaS platform to noninvasively help physicians distinguish between painful and nonpainful discs in the lumbar spine. Nociscan objectively quantifies chemical biomarkers demonstrated to be associated with disc pain. Biomarker data is entered into proprietary algorithms to highlight if a disc may be a source of pain. When used with other diagnostic tools, Nociscan provides critical insights into the location of a patient’s low back pain.