The story has been updated to clarify that the New York State approval includes the regular Panorama panel and 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Prenatal testing firm Natera today said that it has received conditional approval from New York State to offer the expanded Panorama non-invasive prenatal test to residents in the state.
In December, the New York State Department of Health issued a permit to Natera's laboratory allowing the company to offer the Panorama test. Last month, the test, which uses a blood draw to detect trisomy 21, 18, and 13, as well as monosomy X, triploidy, and sex chromosome aneuploidies, was expanded to include five microdeletions, including 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, also called DiGeorge syndrome. It is the most common microdeletion on Panorama's screening panel and affects about one out of every 2,000 births.
The December approval allowed Natera to market its test for high-risk pregnancies. Today's announcement allows the San Carlos, Calif.-based firm to offer the test in New York State with the expanded capability of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome detection.
"We are encouraged by the rapid adoption of microdeletion screening since its release in March, and we are pleased that expecting parents in New York will now have access to the latest prenatal testing technology," Natera CEO Matthew Rabinowitz said in a statement.