NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) - PerkinElmer will serve as the exclusive US marketing partner for Verinata Health's Verifi prenatal aneuploidy test under an agreement the companies announced today.
Under the terms of the agreement, PerkinElmer will add the Verifi test to its existing prenatal testing menu. PerkinElmer's NTD Labs group already offers several tests for Down syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities. The company said it will offer the Verifi noninvasive test to women who have received high-risk screening results at NTD Labs early in the first trimester of pregnancy.
"Collaborating with PerkinElmer provides a great opportunity to not only offer expectant mothers greater access to complete high quality screening and diagnostic tests, but to also extend the Verifi prenatal test to the over 160 million people who are currently part of PerkinElmer's contracted managed care network," said Jeff Bird, CEO and executive chairman at Verinata, in a statement.
On Monday, Illumina announced that it plans to acquire Verinata in a deal worth up to $450 million.
Ross Muken, senior managing director of ISI Group, said in a research note today that Verinata's agreement with PerkinElmer is favorable for all parties, giving PerkinElmer entry into the high-growth noninvasive prenatal testing market "without taking on IP or technology risk," while allowing Illumina to more quickly reach its revenue goals for Verinata by leveraging PerkinElmer's existing sales and marketing infrastructure for prenatal testing.