Deal struck for non-invasive prenatal test facility in Thailand

THE Manchester company behind the IONA non-invasive prenatal test has signed an agreement to offer the ground-breaking treatment in Thailand.

Premaitha Health’s IONA, which detects Downs Syndrome and other genetic conditions in unborn children by using a blood sample, will be used in the Center for Medical Genomics at Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, partnering with the Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences.

CMG in Bangkok will act as a regional hub for non-invasive prenatal tests (“NIPT”), accepting samples from across Thailand and nearby countries for analysis with the IONA test.

The laboratory is currently completing its training and installation phase and is expected to be operational during December.
 
Premaitha’s IONA test was launched in 2015 and is the leading CE marked complete system which estimates the possibility of a fetus being affected with Down’s syndrome or other genetic conditions. Unlike traditional prenatal screening methods, the IONA test is performed on the mother’s blood sample, which contains traces of fetal DNA, and then analysed using next generation DNA sequencing technology.

Due to its high level of accuracy, the IONA test can significantly reduce the number of women subjected to unnecessary stressful and invasive follow up diagnostic procedures which are both costly and resource intensive; and carry a small risk of miscarriage.

Dr Stephen Little, CEO of Premaitha, said: “We are delighted to have expanded our global footprint of laboratory customers to now include Thailand and that women in the country will increasingly be able to benefit from our safe and accurate non-invasive 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.”

Prof Wasun Chantratita, head of CMG, added:  “We have chosen the IONA test not only due to its complete CE mark validation, but also because it has a scalable, flexible workflow, reliable data analysis and interpretation as well as exceptional technical support provided alongside it.

“We look forward to working closely with Premaitha to build the CMG into a regional centre for high quality, fast and accurate cfDNA screening.”