NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Noninvasive prenatal testing startup Singlera Genomics has partnered on a clinical trial with researchers at Yale University to evaluate Singlera's technology for noninvasive prenatal testing of chromosomal aneuploidy and fetal DNA fraction measurement.
Yuan Gao from Johns Hopkins University and Kun Zhang from the University of California, San Diego cofounded La Jolla, California-based Singlera in June 2014. The company has exclusively licensed several technologies developed in Zhang's UCSD laboratory for its proprietary NIPT, which has a turnaround time of one to two days, the company said.
Researchers from Yale, led by Michael Paidas, professor and vice chair of obstetrics, will evaluate Singlera's test in a clinical trial. According to the company, an advantage of the test compared to other NIPTs is that it simultaneously measures fetal DNA fraction, which has been observed to be lower in women with a higher body mass index.
"Having a reliable screen for patients with increased body mass index would be transformative and significantly decrease invasive testing in this population," Paidas said in a statement.Â