Non-Invasive Trisomy 21 Test Now Available in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland

LifeCodexx has announced that its prenatal PrenaTest^® is now available in more than 70 qualified prenatal diagnostic practices and clinics in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

PrenaTest^® is a highly accurate non-invasive genetic blood test which is intended for use among women with pregnancies at high risk for fetal aneuploidy. Based on the use of 'next generation sequencing' technology, the non-invasive prenatal diagnostic PrenaTest™ is able to reliably exclude or confirm fetal trisomy 21 from maternal blood samples. It is a complement to other prenatal diagnostic analysis methods and can help determine whether an invasive diagnostic testing, such as amniocentesis, is actually necessary. The blood test is made available from the 12th week of pregnancy onward.

The PrenaTest^® was developed between 2009 and 2012 by LifeCodexx in collaboration with its parent company GATC Biotech and several leading prenatal centers in Germany and Switzerland. In 2011, LifeCodexx also established a licensing and collaboration agreement with Sequenom Inc., USA.

"We're very proud to see an international acceptance of our non-invasive, prenatal genetic testing technology through our successful collaboration with LifeCodexx," said Harry Hixson, Jr., Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of Sequenom. "We are pleased to see LifeCodexx providing the PrenaTest^® for women who are at increased risk of carrying a child with trisomy 21."

"In the near future, the PrenaTest^® will also be able to identify other chromosomal mutations such as trisomy 13 and 18," says Dr. Michael Lutz, CEO of LifeCodexx. "As the world's first biotechnology company, we have successfully received European regulatory approval with the recent CE certification."