NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Good Start Genetics has expanded its exclusive license of an aneuploidy screening test and related know-how from Johns Hopkins University to include applications in noninvasive prenatal testing, the company said today.
Last December, Good Start Genetics licensed the approach, called FAST-SeqS for Fast Aneuploidy Screening Test-Sequencing System, for preimplantation genetic screening of embryos.
At the time, the company said that FAST-SeqS, which was developed by Hopkins researchers and published in 2012, may have applications beyond PGS, including prenatal testing.
Good Start Genetics President and CEO Don Hardison said in a statement that the company has been pleased with its early experience with FAST-SeqS for PGS and believes the technology and an ongoing collaboration with Hopkins researchers "offer great promise in NIPT, enabling easier workflows, lower costs and broader accessibility for patients."
FAST-SeqS uses a single primer pair to amplify distinct sections of the genome that occur on every chromosome and will be applied to maternal plasma DNA as part of a NIPT.