NEW YORK – Echelon Diagnostics and Cradle Genomics said on Monday that they have partnered to accelerate the development of Cradle’s cell-based noninvasive prenatal diagnostic products.
Under the agreement, EchelonDx is using its PrenatalDx technology to help enhance the data analysis and reporting capabilities for San Diego-based Cradle’s comprehensive fetal genetic analysis and health screening solutions.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
An Illumina-backed venture, Cradle has developed a noninvasive fetal testing platform that uses DNA extracted from intact cells, unlike most currently available NIPT platforms, which analyze fetal cell-free DNA. According to the company, its approach increases the purity of fetal DNA and enables diagnostic testing as early as the fifth week of pregnancy.
EchelonDx, based in Reno, Nevada, offers software for analyzing and reporting results from NIPT, liquid biopsy tests, oncology tests, and in vitro fertilization applications.
"As part of this collaboration, we can leverage EchelonDx’s decades of experience and customizable prenatal analysis platform to create high-quality, data-driven solutions that provide accurate, early, and definitive information during the first trimester of a pregnancy," Cradle CEO Tristan Orpin said in a statement.
"We are very excited to contribute our experience in informatics and the genomics of women’s health to help Cradle achieve its vision," added John Burke, Echelon's president and CSO.