NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Enzo Biochem today said that it has signed an agreement to market Sequenom's MaterniT21 Plus test service in the northeast US.
The sequencing-based test, which is performed at the Sequenom Center for Molecular Medicine, analyzes the relative amount of 21, 18, 13, as well as X and Y chromosomal material in cell-free DNA. It is intended for use in pregnant women at increased risk for fetal aneuploidy, can be used as early as 10 weeks' gestation.
In August Sequenom announced that its lab had received a clinical laboratory permit from New York Department of Health's Wadsworth Center Clinical Laboratory Evaluation Program, enabling the firm to process samples from patients in the State of New York.
Sequenom's testing service "will be of great value to our physician clients and their patients, providing an advanced crucial assay to assess the potential for chromosomal abnormalities early in a pregnancy," Enzo Biochem President Barry Weiner said in a statement. He added that the service "provides an important complement to our extensive menu of women’s health diagnostic assays."
Financial and other terms of the alliance were not disclosed.