Premaitha Health PLC Premaitha welcomes UK Govt. decision on NIPT
October 31 2016 - 2:00AM
RNS Non-Regulatory
TIDMNIPT
Premaitha Health PLC
31 October 2016
Premaitha Health PLC
("Premaitha" or "the Company")
NHS to adopt NIPT for high risk women
Premaitha welcomes UK Govt. decision
Manchester, UK - 31 October 2016: Premaitha Health plc (AIM:
NIPT), developer of the leading CE-marked complete non-invasive
prenatal screening system, welcomes the decision by the UK's
Department of Health to make non-invasive prenatal tests ("NIPT")
routinely available on the NHS to high risk* pregnant women across
the UK.
The Government's decision follows a recommendation in January
2016 by the National Screening Committee that NIPT should be made
freely available on the NHS, as part of the standard fetal anomaly
screening programme, to women with a higher risk of their baby
developing Down's, Edwards' or Patau's syndrome.
Current testing for genetic disorders on the NHS is done through
the Combined Test, which is significantly less accurate than NIPT.
This results in many women who are incorrectly assessed as being
"at risk" for fetal anomalies choosing to undergo an invasive
diagnostic procedure, such as amniocentesis, which carries a risk
of miscarriage. However, the availability of a safer and highly
accurate non-invasive blood test on the NHS, such as Premaitha's
IONA(R) test, is likely to result in a dramatic reduction in the
number of women subjected to such invasive procedures.
Premaitha expects NIPT to be rolled out across the NHS to high
risk women over the next three years.
Dr Stephen Little, CEO of Premaitha, commented:
"I am delighted that the UK Government is committed to making
the process of screening for fetal anomalies a safer one. Through
more accurate screening with non-invasive prenatal tests, such as
the IONA(R) test, we will significantly reduce the number of women
being referred for follow-up invasive diagnostic procedures.
As the developer of the UK's leading non-invasive prenatal test,
Premaitha looks forward to continuing its work with the NHS to make
the IONA(R) test - which is already offered in over 50 NHS
institutions - more widely available. We hope that the NHS will
seek to adopt only NIPT solutions of the highest certificated
quality and that, in time, NIPT will be available to all women on
the NHS and not just those perceived to be at the highest
risk."
*High-risk refers to pregnant women with a 1:150 chance of
having a pregnancy affected by Down's syndrome.
For more information, please contact:
Premaitha Health plc Tel: +44 (0)
161 667 6865
Dr Stephen Little, Chief Executive investors@premaitha.com
Office
Barry Hextall, Chief Financial
Officer
Joanne Cross, Head of Marketing
Vigo Communications Tel: +44 (0)
20 7830 9700
Ben Simons / Fiona Henson / Antonia
Pollock
premaitha@vigocomms.com
About Premaitha
Premaitha is a molecular diagnostics company which uses the
latest advances in DNA analysis technology to develop safer, faster
and regulatory approved non-invasive screening tests for pregnant
women.
Premaitha's lead test - the IONA(R) test - was launched in
February 2015 and is the leading CE marked complete system which
estimates the risk of a fetus being affected with Down's syndrome
or other genetic conditions. The IONA(R) test is performed on the
mother's blood sample - which contains traces of fetal DNA - and
then analysed using next generation DNA sequencing technology from
ThermoFisher Scientific.
Unlike existing prenatal screening methods, due to its high
level of accuracy, the IONA(R) test can significantly reduce the
number of women subjected to unnecessary stressful and invasive
follow-up diagnostic procedures which are costly, resource
intensive and carry a risk of miscarriage.
Non-invasive prenatal screening is an emerging, multi-billion
dollar global market and Premaitha's complete CE marked system
enables laboratories and health care practitioners to offer an
approved, non-invasive prenatal screening system in-house.
Premaitha is based in Manchester Science Park, United Kingdom
and its shares trade on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange
(AIM: NIPT). For further information please visit
www.premaitha.com. Follow us on twitter @PremaithaHealth.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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