Sequenom Extends Diagnostic Research Collaboration With the Chinese University of Hong Kong
SEQUENOM, Inc. announced a research collaboration with The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) for further development of prenatal diagnostic applications on the MassARRAY platform. The agreement includes the placement of a MassARRAY Compact DNA analysis system at the Department of Chemical pathology of CUHK. The goal of the collaboration is to accelerate the introduction of non-invasive prenatal tests from the laboratory into the clinical diagnostic market through the immediate implementation of large-scale studies and benchmark analysis against existing invasive methods for prenatal testing. SEQUENOM's versatile mass spectrometry-based approach for analyzing trace amounts of genetic materials has the potential to be applied to other disease areas such as early, non-invasive cancer detection through the testing of easily accessible body fluids.
"We are very excited about the installation of the MassARRAY Compact DNA analysis system at CUHK," said Y.M. Dennis Lo, D.M., D.Phil., Professor of Chemical Pathology at CUHK, who heads the collaborating CUHK research team and who discovered the presence of fetal DNA and RNA in the blood plasma of pregnant women. "This will allow us to make a great leap forward by applying this powerful analytical platform to the rapidly developing field of non-invasive prenatal diagnosis. We believe that this technology will greatly expand the range of disorders amenable for such non-invasive testing and to reach diagnostic sensitivity and specificity which were thought to be unachievable even one year ago."
Earlier this year, SEQUENOM and CUHK jointly announced that MassARRAY technology had enabled the detection of genetic mutations in circulating fetal nucleic acids in maternal plasma. This approach has the potential to eliminate risks associated with current prenatal testing procedures such as amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling. Previous non-invasive fetal DNA analysis techniques had been unreliable on a large scale due to their dependence on sample concentration and lack of sensitivity and specificity.
"Our partnership with Dr. Lo's team at CUHK is one example of SEQUENOM's initiatives toward moving into the clinical research market," said Toni Schuh, Ph.D., SEQUENOM's President and Chief Executive Officer. "With the combined high sensitivity and specificity of the MassARRAY system, we have the capability to offer new standards of data quality and reliability in the field of prenatal diagnostics. Given the choice between a less expensive, non-invasive test for conditions like thalassemia, cystic fibrosis or Down Syndrome and a costly, invasive test with a significant risk of miscarriage, most parents would choose the former. These new procedures represent a very large and attractive future commercial market opportunity that we plan to focus on and pursue aggressively."
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Topic world Diagnostics
Diagnostics is at the heart of modern medicine and forms a crucial interface between research and patient care in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. It not only enables early detection and monitoring of disease, but also plays a central role in individualized medicine by enabling targeted therapies based on an individual's genetic and molecular signature.
Topic World Mass Spectrometry
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Topic World Mass Spectrometry
Mass spectrometry enables us to detect and identify molecules and reveal their structure. Whether in chemistry, biochemistry or forensics - mass spectrometry opens up unexpected insights into the composition of our world. Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of mass spectrometry!
