Plus Therapeutics announced a new payer coverage agreement with Blue Shield of California that expands the number of covered lives for its CNSide CSF Tumor Cell Enumeration assay from roughly 75 million to 81 million, adding 6 million new members and taking effect in April 2026.
The new agreement follows a series of prior payer deals that have steadily increased coverage: a November 20, 2025 agreement with Humana brought coverage to 67 million lives, a September 25, 2025 deal with UnitedHealthcare lifted coverage to over 51 million, and a Highmark agreement effective April 1, 2026 raised coverage to approximately 75 million. The Blue Shield of California contract now places the company closer to its 2026 target of 150 million covered lives.
By reducing reimbursement barriers and broadening patient access, the expansion is expected to accelerate adoption of the CNSide CSF assay across oncology centers. The company’s strategy to broaden reimbursement is reinforced by the addition of a major California payer, which covers a large and diverse patient population.
"This agreement with Blue Shield of California represents another important step in expanding payer coverage and access to CNSide for patients with leptomeningeal metastases. We continue to execute on our strategy to broaden reimbursement, support physician adoption, and improve outcomes for patients with difficult‑to‑diagnose CNS cancers," said Russ Havranek, EVP Corporate and Commercial Strategy at Plus Therapeutics.
The company completed a 1‑for‑25 reverse stock split effective April 2, 2026, and it has recently raised its cash runway with a $15 million offering. While the company remains in negative free‑cash‑flow territory, the coverage expansion and the upcoming July 1, 2026 approval of a dedicated CPT code (0640U) for the CNSide test are expected to improve billing efficiency and revenue capture.
Plus Therapeutics is scheduled to report Q1 2026 earnings on April 30, 2026, with analysts estimating a loss of $0.04 per share and approximately $1 million in revenue. The company’s Q4 2025 results showed an EPS of $0.00 versus an estimate of –$0.75 and revenue of $1.37 million versus an estimate of $1.84 million, underscoring the need for continued growth in payer coverage to achieve profitability.
The Blue Shield of California agreement is a key milestone in the company’s broader commercialization plan, which pairs diagnostic expansion with the development of its radiotherapeutic pipeline for CNS cancers. The coverage expansion, combined with the new CPT code and the company’s ongoing efforts to scale the CNSide platform, positions Plus Therapeutics to increase test volumes and move closer to breakeven by 2027.
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