Today, Sequenom announced that the peer-reviewed journal Prenatal Diagnosis has featured a new publication from the large Women & Infants multi-center clinical study of Sequenom Center Molecular Medicine’s (Sequenom CMM) MaterniT21 PLUS laboratory-developed test (LDT). The publication, addressing MaterniT21 PLUS LDT’s capability to accurately detect the presence of certain fetal trisomies in pregnant women carrying twins or triplets, will appear in Prenatal Diagnosis’ May issue. The full abstract is available online at www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pd.3892/abstract. Sequenom additionally announces that as of the week ending May 12, Sequenom CMM has processed more than 10,000 commercial MaterniT21 PLUS test samples so far in 2012.
The underlying biology and these positive study data indicate that DNA testing like that offered by MaterniT21 PLUS can be reliably used as a clinical management option for women expecting twins or triplets who are at increased risk for fetal chromosomal anomalies. The published results have been taken from the large, international, multicenter study conducted at 27 worldwide prenatal diagnostics centers, as well as from previous publications on trisomy 21 and trisomies 18 and 13 in Genetics in Medicine. The participating study sites collected and processed maternal plasma samples from 4,664 pregnant women, all at increased risk for fetal aneuploidy, who were in their late first and early second trimesters. Blinded samples were tested from pregnancies with trisomy 21, trisomy 18 and trisomy 13, as well as from those with other abnormal karyotypes.
In the same multi-center study, maternal plasma samples were also tested from 25 twin pregnancies and two triplet pregnancies. Of the twin pregnancies, there were no trisomies in 17 of them (known as euploid); trisomy 21 was present in seven of the pregnancies (two cases in both fetal twins, five cases in one fetal twin only); and trisomy 13 was present in one pregnancy (in one fetal twin). There were two triplet pregnancies with no trisomies in either. MaterniT21 PLUS correctly classified the eight twin pregnancies with trisomy 21 or trisomy 13, as well as the 17 twin euploid pregnancies and both the triplet euploid pregnancies.
In the U.S., instances of pregnant women carrying twins or higher multiples are becoming increasingly common due to assisted reproductive technologies. More of these women have increased risks for fetal aneuploidy due to factors like advanced maternal age. The published data provides specialists with valuable evidence that Sequenom CMM’s MaterniT21 PLUS LDT can reliably detect certain fetal trisomies in twins, just as in single pregnancies.
Sequenom is a life sciences company engaged in improving healthcare through pioneering genetic analysis solutions. The company develops innovative technology, products and diagnostics tests targeting and serving discovery and clinical research and molecular diagnostics markets. Founded in 1994, Sequenom is headquartered in San Diego, Calif.
For more information on the company, visit www.sequenom.com
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