Agreement is the first introduction of AI-driven epigenetic heart attack risk assessment and coronary heart disease detection tests in a retail healthcare setting on a walk-in basis.

Cardio Diagnostics Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDIO), an AI-driven precision cardiovascular medicine company, today announced that the Company’s AI-driven epigenetic-genetic blood tests, Epi+Gen CHD and PrecisionCHD, will be available beginning Q2 2024 in a retail healthcare setting inside the Walmart Supercenter in Round Lake Beach, Illinois.

Round Lake Beach, a northern suburb of Chicago in Lake County, has been chosen as the strategic starting point for this retail healthcare initiative. This initiative is an expansion of the ongoing Heart Attack Prevention Initiative with Family Medicine Specialists (FMS) to increase the accessibility of clinical cardiovascular diagnostic solutions, moving them beyond traditional provider settings and into the more accessible realm of retail healthcare for hundreds of additional patients in Lake County, Illinois. The retail healthcare footprint and market share continues to grow as more Americans embrace the convenience and accessibility to high quality healthcare services. In a recent report, AMN Healthcare reported that 30.3 percent (79.6 million) Americans received care at a retail clinic, and expect 32.8 percent of Americans to do so in 2024.

“Our partnership with FMS to bring our tests to their Walmart locations is a game-changer in the field of cardiovascular health management. By integrating Cardio Diagnostics' state-of-the-art clinical tests within FMS’s expansive retail network, we are shifting the paradigm from a model that relies on specialty care infrastructure to one that meets American communities in their backyard. This strategic alliance not only democratizes access to top-tier heart disease services but also propels Cardio Diagnostics as a leader in cardiovascular retail healthcare innovation. Our ultimate goal is to meet patients where they are, weaving advanced medical services seamlessly into the fabric of their everyday lives," shared Meesha Dogan, Ph.D., Co-Founder and CEO of Cardio Diagnostics.

Employees and customers in the Round Lake Beach Walmart location of FMS will have access to both of Cardio Diagnostics' clinical blood tests on a walk-in basis. The Company’s epigenetic-genetic cardiovascular clinical blood tests, Epi+Gen CHD™ and PrecisionCHD™, detect heart attack risk and coronary heart disease status, respectively. These tests are easy to administer in the retail healthcare setting because they only require a simple blood draw, bringing this vital service closer to patients.

“At Family Medicine Specialists, we have multiple retail healthcare partnerships and are particularly excited about our unique and innovative partnership with Cardio Diagnostics, a leader in clinical cardiovascular diagnostic solutions. This collaboration will enable us to bring advanced cardiac diagnostic tools directly into our retail healthcare clinic locations, enhancing our ability to provide more advanced patient care without the need for additional infrastructure. We believe that this partnership will empower our clinicians with additional resources to better serve our patients’ needs," stated Jason Bellucci, MBA, President of Family Medicine Specialists.

Bringing Precision Cardiovascular Testing to Each Neighborhood

Heart attacks and coronary heart disease pose significant health risks, and earlier detection and intervention remain crucial for prevention. In the current healthcare paradigm, accessing specialized tests for assessing one’s heart attack risk or for the diagnosis of coronary heart disease means having to navigate complex schedules and significant waiting periods. While primary care and family medicine practices have managed to maintain relatively shorter wait times, specialty areas like cardiology have seen a significant rise, with the average wait time now extending to about 26.6 days. This delay particularly impacts cardiology patients, where timely intervention can be crucial.

With 45% of Americans projected to have some form of cardiovascular disease by 2035, the key question is, how can Americans and their providers quickly gain clarity about a patient’s heart disease without weeks of waiting for a specialist appointment? The short answer is, cardiology specialty tests must be routinely and readily available in community settings, such as in retail healthcare stores.

With the deployment of Cardio Diagnostics' advanced blood tests across select Walmart locations in partnership with FMS, the Company aims to help alleviate the critical issue of increasing wait times for specialty care. Cardio Diagnostics' expanded collaboration with FMS at select Walmart locations, beginning with the Round Lake Beach location, is a key opportunity to reduce wait times for cardiac assessments and care, and expand community-based access to heart disease solutions.

The company intends to continue to identify and partner with provider organizations with a strong retail healthcare presence who are keen to enhance their existing heart disease-related services with precision cardiovascular diagnostic and risk assessment technologies.

About Cardio Diagnostics

Cardio Diagnostics is an artificial intelligence-powered precision cardiovascular medicine company that makes cardiovascular disease prevention, detection, and management more accessible, personalized, and precise. The Company was formed to further develop and commercialize clinical tests by leveraging a proprietary Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven Integrated Genetic-Epigenetic Engine (“Core Technology”) for cardiovascular disease to become one of the leading medical technology companies for improving prevention, detection, and treatment of cardiovascular disease. For more information, please visit www.cardiodiagnosticsinc.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements and information included in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words or phrases “will”, "will likely result," "expected to," "will continue," "anticipated," "estimate," "projected," "intend," “goal,” or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain risks, known and unknown, and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Such uncertainties and risks include but are not limited to, our ability to successfully execute our growth strategy, changes in laws or regulations, economic conditions, dependence on management, dilution to stockholders, lack of capital, the effects of rapid growth upon the Company and the ability of management to effectively respond to the growth and demand for products and services of the Company, newly developing technologies, the Company’s ability to compete, regulatory matters, protection of technology, the effects of competition and the ability of the Company to obtain future financing. An extensive list of factors that can affect future results are discussed in the Current Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2022 and Forms 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2023 and September 30, 2023 under the heading “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item IA thereof, and other documents filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such factors could materially adversely affect the Company's financial performance and could cause the Company's actual results for future periods to differ materially from any opinions or statements expressed within this press release.

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