Partnership Brings NIPT Test to Poland

Under a collaborative agreement Premaitha Health plc, Manchester, is working closely with Centrum Badan DNA group to establish the Warsaw-based company as a preferred partner laboratory in Poland for Premaitha’s CE-marked IONA^®  in vitro diagnostic test for non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPT).

The IONA test uses next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology to estimate the risk of a foetus having serious genetic disorders such as Down’s syndrome (Trisomy 21), Edwards’ syndrome (Trisomy 18) and Patau’s syndrome (Trisomy 13), by analysing cell-free foetal DNA from a sample of maternal blood.

Last year there were 376,000 live births in Poland according to the Polish Statistical Office, and the uptake of NIPT tests is on the increase. The IONA test will be available for pregnant women who wish to have a private non-invasive screening test and Centrum Badan will work with national hospitals wishing to offer high-risk pregnant women the test.

Jacek Wojciechowicz, CEO of Centrum Badan, commented: “In our opinion, the IONA test is superior over other tests due to the complete workflow package from DNA extraction through to analysis software and reporting. Premaitha’s test also offers the highest accuracy and reliability with results available to clinicians in just three days. Having exclusive access to the only regulated CE-IVD NIPT in Europe for the pregnant women of Poland is a significant commercial advantage to our company. We anticipate launching the IONA test in Poland over the next few weeks and look forward to working with the Premaitha team.”

Dr Stephen Little, CEO of Premaitha said: “We have selected Centrum Badan as our preferred collaborator in Poland due to the company’s technical next-generation sequencing expertise and its close network of obstetricians and clinicians.”  The collaboration follows recent contract wins in Switzerland with Genoma and in the UK with St George’s NHS Foundation Trust. “We are very pleased with the progress we are making across Europe to bring NIPT to pregnant women,” Dr Little added.