NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Molecular diagnostics firm Premaitha Health announced today it has established its first service laboratory customer in Asia. The lab, located at the Center for Medical Genomics at Mahidol University's Ramathibodi Hospital in Thailand, will now offer the firm's Iona test.
"Asia Pacific is a region in which we believe there is significant potential for non-invasive prenatal testing — to secure our first operational laboratory in Asia is an important strategic milestone," Premaitha CEO Stephen Little said in a statement.
Iona estimates the risk of genetic conditions in a fetus by analyzing cell-free fetal DNA from a maternal blood sample. It uses Thermo Fisher Scientific's Ion Proton platform and received CE marking about a year ago.
Premaitha noted that the Thai hospital will act as a regional hub for NIPT and can process samples from nearby countries as well.
The company has previously entered into Iona distribution deals in Chile, France, Russia, Greece, the Middle East, and India. In September, it reported annual revenues of £2.5 million ($3.2 million), up from £132,000 the year before, and sales of more than 17,000 of the tests to customers in the UK and Europe since its launch in February 2015.