PerkinElmer has completed the acquisition of Sweden-based Vanadis Diagnostics, for an undisclosed sum.
Vanadis is involved in developing a novel solution for non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) based on digital analysis of cell-free DNA.
The platform of Vanadis will allow PerkinElmer to provide a cost-effective and high-throughput approach to NIPT, helping in providing wider access for pregnant women.
According to PerkinElmer, the acquisition is based on its maternal fetal health offerings, which provide customers a full portfolio of traditional serum screening solutions.
PerkinElmer diagnostics president Prahlad Singh said: "High capital investment, advanced molecular skills, and complex data handling for lab staff, along with the difficulty of integrating these systems into the existing screening infrastructure, have been barriers to more widespread adoption of NIPT.
"Vanadis’ simplified NIPT platform, once available, should help overcome these obstacles, giving labs a wider range of prenatal testing capabilities and providing important information to physicians and patients."
Vanadis Diagnostics CEO Olle Ericsson said: "We founded Vanadis with the mission to make NIPT available to all women, and we developed this technology to fundamentally change the cost structure and workflow for NIPT."
Through its wide range of instruments, reagents and assay platforms and software, PerkinElmer provides prenatal, neonatal and infectious disease screening and molecular diagnostics solutions.
With around $2.2bn revenue in 2014, the company provides its services in around150 countries.
Image: Vanadis is developing a new solution for non-invasive prenatal testing. Photo: courtesy of Suwit Ritjaroon / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.