GENinCode Plc (AIM: GENI) shares rose around 23% in early trading after the predictive genetics company reported encouraging clinical results for its CARDIO inCode-Score® test in the prevention of coronary artery disease.
The Institut Català de la Salut, part of the Government of Catalonia, presented the preliminary results at the European Society of Cardiology Annual Congress 2026 in Munich.
The real-world pilot involved 584 patients across 14 primary care centres in Catalonia, all aged between 45 and 65 and previously classified as having moderate cardiovascular risk using conventional clinical assessment.
When CARDIO inCode-Score® genetic risk data was added to conventional risk factors, the overall cardiovascular risk assessment changed in 42.6% of patients. Around 26.5% moved into a different risk category outright, with some patients reclassified upward and others downward.
The study also recorded improvements in modifiable cardiovascular risk factors following disclosure of the genetic results. Average estimated cardiovascular risk fell from 7.30% to 6.04%, while mean LDL cholesterol declined from 136.74 mg/dL to 123.17 mg/dL after an average follow-up of 8.5 months.
Smoking abstinence among the study cohort also increased from 43.7% to 62.8%, with the reported changes achieving statistical significance.
The greatest benefit was seen among patients with the highest genetic risk, with 49.6% of that group moving to a lower risk category, compared with 33% in the moderate genetic-risk group and 28.6% among those in the lowest quintile.
GENinCode said the findings provide further real-world evidence that polygenic risk scores can improve cardiovascular risk stratification and potentially allow clinicians to intensify prevention in higher-risk patients while reducing unnecessary intervention in those with lower inherited risk.
Further effectiveness and cost-effectiveness analysis is continuing.
