Natera Teams Up with the George Lopez Foundation on the #GLFTrickShot Kidney Disease Awareness Challenge

SAN CARLOS, Calif. and LOS ANGELES, Oct. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRA), a global leader in cell-free DNA testing, today announced that it has teamed up with the George Lopez Foundation to create the #GLFTrickShot Challenge, a social media fundraising campaign for kidney patients in need that also aims to raise awareness around the prevalence and risks of kidney disease. The challenge involves getting a ball into a receptacle, golf style, and videos will be linked to the campaign page GLFTrickShotNatera.com, where donations can also be made. All proceeds will go toward living essentials, including food and medications, for kidney patients.

"As a 15-year transplant recipient, I appreciate Natera’s sponsorship of this challenge and value the opportunity to work together to raise money for kidney patients struggling in this pandemic," said George Lopez, renowned actor, comedian, and co-founder and Director of the George Lopez Foundation. "About 96 percent of people with early-stage kidney disease don’t know they have it.¹ The #GLFTrickShot Challenge is a fun and creative way to raise awareness, help those in need, and see just how good your friends really are behind the ball."

Already, many celebrities have signed up to participate, including Scream actor David Arquette, Joe Mantegna from Criminal Minds, musician Jeffrey Osborne, singer Pat Monahan from the band Train, celebrity plastic surgeon Jason Diamond, and many others. In addition, key transplant opinion leaders, including Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, MD, MPH, PhD, Chief, Division of Nephrology, Hypertension and Kidney Transplantation at UC Irvine School of Medicine, will also participate. 

"Natera is thrilled to be working with the George Lopez Foundation on this important initiative and we’re looking forward to seeing some entertaining and creative videos from the challenge," said Phil Gauthier, MD, Medical Director of Organ Health at Natera. "Here in the U.S., one in three adults is at risk of kidney disease,¹ but with advanced technology and increased awareness, we can help improve the management of kidney disease and ensure continued quality of life for kidney patients."

About The George Lopez Foundation
The mission of the George Lopez Foundation is to increase community awareness about kidney disease and organ donation, as well as create positive, permanent change for underprivileged children, adults, and military families confronting challenges in education and health.

About Natera
Natera is a global leader in cell-free DNA testing. The mission of the company is to change the management of disease worldwide with a focus on women’s health, oncology, and organ health. Natera operates an ISO 13485-certified and CAP-accredited laboratory certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) in San Carlos, Calif. It offers proprietary genetic testing services to inform obstetricians, transplant physicians, oncologists, and cancer researchers, including biopharmaceutical companies, and genetic laboratories through its cloud-based software platform. For more information, visit natera.com. Follow Natera on LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statements
All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are forward-looking statements and are not a representation that Natera’s plans, estimates, or expectations will be achieved. These forward-looking statements represent Natera’s expectations as of the date of this press release, and Natera disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including with respect to our efforts to develop and commercialize new product offerings, our ability to successfully increase demand for and grow revenues for our product offerings, our expectations of the reliability, accuracy and performance of our screening tests, or of the benefits of our screening tests and product offerings to patients, providers and payers. Additional risks and uncertainties are discussed in greater detail in "Risk Factors" in Natera’s recent filings on Forms 10-K and 10-Q and in other filings Natera makes with the SEC from time to time. These documents are available at www.natera.com/investors and www.sec.gov.

Contacts
Investor Relations: Mike Brophy, CFO, Natera, Inc., 650-249-9090
Media: Paul Greenland, VP of Corporate Marketing, Natera, Inc., pr@natera.com

References

1. One in Seven American Adults Estimated to Have Chronic Kidney Disease. National Kidney Foundation. June 6, 2017. Accessed Oct. 1, 2020. https://www.kidney.org/news/one-seven-american-adults-estimated-to-have-chronic-kidney-disease

SOURCE Natera, Inc.