Artrya announced that HCA Midwest Health has agreed to “in-principle participation” in the SAPPHIRE study. Like the other four participants, participation will be finalised only once the study protocol and ethics reviews are completed (expected in the coming months).
HCA Midwest Health is one of 15 divisions of HCA Healthcare, the largest for-profit healthcare system in the US. HCA Healthcare is estimated to complete approximately 200,000 CCTA scans a year across its ~220 hospitals.
HCA MidwestHealth is a world-renowned cardiovascular research hub. It operates seven acute care hospitals and is the largest healthcare provider in the Kansas City area.
HCA Midwest’s participation is hugely positive for SAPPHIRE, Salix and Artrya, providing them all with credibility.
Artrya has now secured “in-principle” participation from five top-tier healthcare systems (see Table 1), including two of the ten largest systems in the US (Ascension and HCA). We expect Artrya to announce at least one more partner before the study starts.
The inclusion of HCA Midwest is yet another positive milestone for Artrya. It does not change our valuation, but provides greater certainty, as we had already assumed AYA would reach its 400,000-scan target for SAPPHIRE participants. AYA continues to trade below our valuation. Future catalysts include: launch of the SAPPHIRE study, lodgement of the SCF FDA application, SCF FDA clearance, and reporting its first US SCP revenue in 2H26.
As outlined in greater detail in our report published last week (‘SAPPHIRE: The gem hidden in plain sight’), the SAPPHIRE study is a compelling marketing opportunity for Salix, the visibility and value of which has now been significantly increased with the participation of HCA Midwest Health. HCA Midwest Health is the second of the ten largest US healthcare systems to join the study after Ascension Health announced its involvement in November last year.
Along with a detailed overview of SAPPHIRE and its implications for our valuation, our report also included a list of the top 10 US healthcare systems, ordered by Google Gemini from most to least likely to be involved in SAPPHIRE. As shown in Table 3, HCA topped the list.
We expect at least one more large healthcare system to join the study, bringing the total annual CCTA scans performed by participants to around 400,000, the target Artrya management has repeatedly stated since announcing the study.
For a more comprehensive review of SAPPHIRE, including its influence on our valuation, see ‘SAPPHIRE: The gem hidden in plain sight’.