Guardant Health’s Colorectal Cancer Screening Test Earns Another Honor

Guardant Health Inc.’s Shield blood test for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is a winner of Fast Company’s 2025 World Changing Ideas Awards, which recognize innovative companies and projects addressing the planet’s most urgent challenges.

Shield is the first blood test approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a primary CRC screening option. The second leading cause of U.S. cancer-related deaths, CRC has a 91% five-year survival rate if caught in early stages. Yet one out of three eligible U.S. adults (over 50 million people) do not complete the recommended screening in part because they find the available options—colonoscopy and stool tests—unpleasant or inconvenient. With Shield, individuals can be screened with a simple blood draw during a routine office visit, helping to detect more cancers early, when they are more treatable.

“With a simple blood draw, Shield provides a more convenient and pleasant screening option for the millions of people who delay their recommended screening for colorectal cancer,” Guardant Health Co-Founder/Co-CEO AmirAli Talasaz said. “This latest honor for Shield recognizes the innovation created by our team at Guardant Health and the world-changing potential of the Shield blood test. By overcoming barriers with current screening methods, we can help increase the overall screening rate, find more cancers at an early stage, and give people more time free from cancer.”

A Fast Company editor and reporter panel selected the winners from a pool of more than 1,500 entries and judged applications based on their impact, sustainability, design, creativity, scalability, and ability to improve society.

“The World Changing Ideas Awards have always been about showcasing the art of the possible,” Fast Company Editor-in-Chief Brendan Vaughan stated. “We’re proud to recognize the organizations and leaders that are making meaningful progress on the biggest issues of our time.”

The Shield blood test was also named to TIME’s list of the best inventions of 2024 and selected as a Grand Award Winner in Popular Science’s Best of What’s New 2024 (Health category). Shield is also the first blood test that is FDA approved for primary screening to be included in The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) colorectal cancer (CRC) screening guidelines.

Shield is FDA approved for primary non-invasive screening for colorectal cancer in average-risk individuals age 45 and older and can be ordered by any prescribing healthcare provider.

Shield is a non-invasive, blood-based screening test that detects alterations associated with colorectal cancer in the blood. It is intended as a screening test for individuals at average risk for the disease, age 45 or older, and is not intended for individuals at high risk for colorectal cancer. The Shield test can be considered in a manner similar to guideline-recommended non-invasive CRC screening options and can be completed during any healthcare visit. A positive Shield result raises concern for the presence of colorectal cancer or advanced adenoma and the patient should be referred for colonoscopy evaluation.

Guardant Health is a precision oncology company founded in 2012 that is striving to accelerate new cancer therapies through its advanced blood and tissue tests, real-world data, and AI analytics. Guardant tests help improve outcomes across all stages of care, including early screening, monitoring for recurrence in early-stage cancer, and treatment selection for patients with advanced cancer.