Sequenom Announces Results of Screening Studies for Down Syndrome
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Sequenom, Inc. has announced positive results from screening studies using the Company's noninvasive circulating cell-free fetal (ccff) nucleic acid SEQureDx™ Technology, which enables the detection of fetal aneuploidy, including Down syndrome from maternal blood.
At its analyst-and-investor briefing "The Future of Noninvasive Prenatal Diagnostics" held at the International Society of Prenatal Diagnostics (ISPD) conference in Vancouver, Canada, executives were joined by a panel of leading scientists and clinicians to discuss study results and updates in the development of noninvasive prenatal diagnostics.
The Company reported that in blinded studies performed at Sequenom involving approximately 200 clinical samples collected both prospectively and retrospectively, its proprietary test for Down syndrome correctly identified 100% of all Down syndrome samples (i.e. sensitivity or detection rate), without any false-positive outcomes (i.e. specificity).
Population coverage for the T21 test improved to at least 93% of the U.S. population. With currently available serum-testing options having detection rates between 70% to 90% and false-positive rates as high as 5%, SEQureDx Technology shows promise for significant performance advantages over the current paradigms for prenatal screening.
The Company expects to continue its development activities through the end of 2008, at which time the Company will initiate transfer of the technology to laboratory partners.
The Company plans to initiate a multi-site validation study consisting of several thousand samples in the fourth quarter this year and launch its Down syndrome test as a Laboratory Developed Test (LDT) in the U.S. in the first half 2009.
"We are very pleased to be reporting substantial progress toward commercializing an important test to screen for Down syndrome that can be administered as early as late in the first trimester through a simple blood draw from the mother," said Harry Stylli, Ph.D., Sequenom's President and Chief Executive Officer.
"Data from our blinded screening study for the detection of fetal aneuploidy indicate that the current version of our test has identified all Down syndrome samples without any false-positive outcomes. Also our coverage has improved to at least 93% of the U.S. population. Although these results require further validation in larger studies, such results using SEQureDx™ Technology can potentially transform current clinical practice for Down syndrome-risk assessment."
The studies conducted both prospectively and retrospectively, involved approximately 200 samples in both normal and high-risk patients. The blinded-prospective study involved 180 samples comprising 130 low-risk and 50 high-risk samples.
The company says that the test correctly identified three Down syndrome samples without any false-positive outcomes. Of the 21 blinded samples analyzed retrospectively, the test correctly identified seven Down syndrome samples while also indicating no false-positive results.
