Down’s Syndrome prenatal test to be offered privately
MANCHESTER-based Premaitha Health, the developer of the non-invasive prenatal screening test (NIPT) branded IONA, has partnered with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to provide a private service for pregnant women in the region.
IONA, the first CE-marked NIPT, is a safer and highly accurate way to screen for Down’s Syndrome, Edwards’ Syndrome and Patau’s Syndrome to help significantly reduce the need for invasive follow-up tests, such as amniocentesis, which carry a small risk of miscarriage.
A recent recommendation from the National Screening Committee stated that NIPT should be offered to high risk pregnant women with a greater than 1:150 chance of having a pregnancy affected by Down’s Syndrome on the NHS.
This has led to an increasing interest in this type of screening from pregnant women.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is the first centre to offer NIPT privately since the recommendation. By providing the test privately at an affordable price within the NHS care pathway all pregnant women, regardless of risk score, have the opportunity to access the benefits of NIPT.
The IONA test is available to women from 10 weeks’ gestation. All the test needs is a blood sample from the mother to estimate the risk of a fetus being affected by Down’s or other serious genetic disorders.
The blood sample will be sent to Premaitha’s CQC-registered clinical laboratory in Manchester and results provided within three to five working days, minimising anxious waiting time for expectant mothers and their families.
Premaitha chief executive Dr Stephen Little said: “We look forward to working closely with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to bring this safer test to expectant mothers in Leeds.
“The IONA test’s proven clinical performance, accuracy and fast turnaround alongside our dedicated CQC-registered clinical laboratory and experience working with the NHS enables us to perfectly support other NHS hospitals to roll out NIPT to women across the UK.”
Dr Kelly Cohen, consultant in Fetomaternal Medicine and Obstetrics at Leeds NHS Teaching Hospitals Trust said: “This is an important step towards increasing the accessibility of non-invasive prenatal screening in Yorkshire.
“The Fetal Medicine team at LTHT is absolutely committed to ensuring that as many women as possible are able to opt for non-invasive testing until it becomes available as an NHS test. It may not be the best test for everybody, and choosing a screening test can be a confusing and worrying time.
“We will ensure that our patients are fully informed about their options and will be supported by specialist counselling before and after the test. We’ve chosen IONA as we believe it is a highly effective screening test and we look forward to working closely with Premaitha to deliver the best value for our patients.”
