Catherine Vautrin announced that the test to diagnose endometriosis should be fully covered by Social Security at the beginning of next year.
- The endometriosis saliva test, developed by the Lyon-based company Ziwig, “costs around 1,000 euros”, according to Catherine Vautrin.
- The Minister of Labor, Health and Solidarity estimated that the “Endotest” will be 100% reimbursed by Social Security from “January 2025”.
- In total, between 10,000 and 20,000 women should be able to benefit.
On the eve of International Women’s Rights Day, the Minister of Labor, Health and Solidarity discussed the future reimbursement of the endometriosis saliva test, called “Endotest”, from the Lyon company Ziwig. As a reminder, this chronic inflammatory gynecological disease affects between 1.5 and 2.5 million French women of childbearing age, or one in 10 women. It is a “still little-known pathology, with multiple forms and whose evolution and intensity vary from one woman to another. Its diagnosis, sometimes difficult, is still too often late: 7 years on average”, according to the Ministry of Health.
Endometriosis: a saliva test costing around “1,000 euros” 100% covered in “January 2025”
In order to reduce diagnostic wandering among patients with endometriosis, the French company has developed a test which comes in the form of a self-sampling kit, carried out at home by the women concerned who then send it to a laboratory. via an envelope enclosed in the box. This saliva test makes it possible to characterize the expression of multiple biomarkers in the context of the diagnosis of endometriosis. According to health insurancethis is a complex medical biology examination since it involves carrying out high-throughput sequencing and the use of an algorithm designed by artificial intelligence within a specialized medical biology laboratory.
If the High Authority of Health (HAS) has recognized the innovative, non-invasive nature and diagnostic effectiveness of the test, the health authority is not yet in favor of “common law reimbursement”, but it offers the integration of the Endotest into an innovation package, allowing early and secure access to the test. However, this Thursday March 7, Catherine Vautrin announced that this test, which “costs about 1,000 euros” will be reimbursed 100% by Social Security from “January 2025”. Its support will allow “10,000 to 20,000 women to benefit from it”, declared the minister on the set of “4 Truths” of France 2.
“We still have an experiment on 3,000 women until the end of the year
However, before applying this measure, you must have the green light from the High Authority of Health. “We still have an experiment on 3,000 women until the end of the year, and the elements are extremely interesting”, specified Catherine Vautrin. At the same time, she indicated that it was necessary to inform companies of this new development. “Obviously, medical confidentiality must be respected but it is important to explain to human resources departments that today there is a pathology which affects women, which generates consequences on their health, serious consequences and which requires absences.”
