NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Singapore-based women's health diagnostic firm Inex Innovations Exchange on Monday announced an exclusive deal with Primary Health Care for the distribution of Inex's non-invasive fetal chromosomal abnormality test in Australia.
Under the terms of the deal, Primary Health Care will distribute the iGeneScreen Prenatal Test in all the territories and major cities in Australia, including Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide. iGeneScreen is already available in Western Australia and the test will become available throughout the continent by next month, Inex said.
The test detects for trisomy 21 and 18 with 99 percent accuracy, the firm said, adding it requires only a 10 milliliter sample of blood from the expecting mother at 12 weeks of gestation onward.
"This agreement signals our progress in facilitating the adoption of an important test in the Australian market," Inex Executive Director Sidney Yee said in a statement. "We are delighted that pregnant mothers can now have access to a non-invasive prenatal test, and that they no longer have to endure the stresses associated with existing prenatal tests."
Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
iGeneScreen was developed by BGI. In September, Inex and BGI partnered to build a next-generation sequencing facility in Singapore to offer molecular genetic tests beginning with iGeneScreen.
Primary Health Care provides pathology services in Australia.