Noninvasive Prenatal Genetic Screening Tests Are Safer

Fetal nucleic acid material from a simple blood specimen can be collected safely and comfortably from the mother to determine genetic characteristics of the fetus.

Current standard methods for genetic screening of the fetus involve harvesting placental tissue cells (as is required for chorionic villus sampling), or entering the uterus to sample the amniotic fluid surrounding the baby, which is called amniocentesis.

The new test is simple: once the mother's blood is extracted in a common blood draw, SEQureDx technology utilizes circulating fetal DNA in maternal blood to examine the genetic status of the fetus. This breakthrough suggests that effective screening may be accomplished in the future without the risks associated with disturbing the amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby in the uterus.

While a number of genetic defects have the potential to be detected using the SEQureDx Technology, the first application is the analysis of fetal RhD. RhD disease can occur when the blood of an expectant mother is incompatible with her unborn child. RhD incompatibility affects approximately one in one thousand live born infants and can lead to jaundice, anemia, brain damage, heart failure, and death.

Sequenom Center for Molecular Medicine, LLC (SCMM; San Diego, CA, USA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sequenom, Inc., has entered into an agreement with PDI (Saddle River, NJ, USA) to provide the sales infrastructure to launch and commercialize SCMM's noninvasive prenatal genetic screening tests based on its SEQureDx technology. Under the agreement, PDI will also provide sales support to SCMM upon commercialization of its noninvasive Down syndrome (Trisomy 21) test, which is expected to be launched mid 2009, as well as other laboratory-developed tests.

Sequenom, a leader in genetic analysis products, develops diagnostic products to improve the healthcare of women. The company's commercial objective is to make safe, noninvasive prenatal testing available to all women, independent of age and other factors that may contribute to pregnancy complications.

PDI is one of the first Contract Services Organizations (CSO) to provide sales and marketing support to both established and emerging U.S.-based biopharmaceutic companies,

Related Links:
Sequenom Center for Molecular Medicine
PDI