Good Start Genetics has announced that it has entered into a collaborative agreement with global healthcare leader Roche to sell Good Start's carrier screening service for inherited genetic disorders.
Under the agreement, Roche Diagnostics will offer Good Start Genetics' GeneVu™ carrier screening test service in conjunction with its Harmony™ non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) service to obstetricians and general practitioners caring for pregnant women in the United States.
"We are excited to announce our collaboration with Roche Diagnostics to address the significant market need for prenatal carrier screening utilizing our proprietary next generation sequencing technology platform," said Jeffrey Luber, President and CEO of Good Start Genetics.
"It is an honor to team up with a world-class organization like Roche as we address a significant unmet need. Offering GeneVu, our comprehensive and highly accurate carrier screening test service for inherited genetic disorders, with Roche's Harmony NIPT service, which assesses the risk of fetal trisomy 21, 18, 13, and sex chromosome aneuploidy, provides the 20,000+ OBGYNs in the United States with two best-in-class solutions for their expectant moms."
As the nation's leading medical organization for women's health, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends that the more than 60 million women of reproductive age in the U.S. be offered genetic testing for cystic fibrosis (CF), while the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) recommends screening for both CF and spinal muscular atrophy.
The GeneVu test service offers screening for these inherited genetic conditions and others.
"The agreement with Good Start Genetics will enable Roche to offer a broader range of screening services to healthcare professionals who provide care for pregnant women and for parents involved in planning a family," said Whitney Green, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations for Roche Diagnostics.
"Good Start's GeneVu service is an innovative test that will complement our Harmony prenatal test service to allow prospective parents to confidently assess the risk of various genetic conditions in themselves and in the child."
GeneVu is a menu of pre-pregnancy/prenatal screening test services that identify carriers of genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis, providing critical information to inform couples planning to start a family.
GeneVu is the product of years of development and rigorous peer-reviewed validation that detects many more disease-causing mutations than traditional genotyping-based screening tests, regardless of patient ethnicity. With its suite of proprietary technologies, processes and algorithms, Good Start Genetics was the first company to harness the power of next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) in the fertility clinic setting with highly accurate and actionable tests, like GeneVu, resulting in higher mutation detection rates and fewer missed carriers.
As part of the patient experience, GeneVu is supported by a dedicated team of customer care specialists and board certified genetic counselors who provide step-by-step support, from test selection through results, analysis and reporting.