Molecular diagnostics firm Premaitha Health has launched Sage, an NIPT solution incorporating additional prenatal screening analysis tools.
Sage is an advanced NIPT analysis solution, available through Yourgene Bioscience Singapore (“Yourgene”), which was acquired by Premaitha in March 2017. It uses the latest technology to detect placental DNA in a maternal blood sample, enabling pregnant women to get fast, safe and reliable test results whilst reducing the number of women required to undergo invasive follow up tests with the associated risks.
Sage offers customers a cost-effective, high-quality and flexible prenatal screening test that can be tailored to provide a full clinical service for hospitals or to local laboratory set-ups, all with a fast workflow of just three days.
Utilising cloud-based bioinformatics analysis, Sage allows laboratories to upload sequencing data files to the cloud for remote analysis via Yourgene’s bespoke portal analysis package.
This solution will significantly expand Premaitha’s addressable market, giving access not only to new customers, but also offering additional analysis tools for existing IONA customers.
Sage is a complementary solution to IONA® as Premaitha’s CE-marked IONA test detects trisomies 21, 18 and 13, whereas Sage offers an extended test panel, including full chromosome analysis, thereby enabling customers to maintain a competitive edge in the growing number of laboratories offering NIPT.
Health authorities implementing public health screening policies often mandate the use of a CE-marked test, such as IONA test, or equivalent. The launch of Sage will enable Premaitha to capitalise on the growing awareness and demand for NIPT in countries that have not yet seen the implementation of standard regulation and for the private payer market in cases where public provision is not available.
The Sage analysis solution has been developed utilising the sequencing and bioinformatics expertise of Yourgene, alongside Premaitha’s clinical understanding, IVD and quality standards. Sage is being launched at the Asian and Oceanic Obstetric Congress of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Hong Kong, where the Company will be exhibiting and showcasing both the Sage™ solution and the IONA® test.
Dr Stephen Little, CEO of Premaitha Health, commented: “To be able to launch the Sage test, a valuable addition to the Premaitha portfolio, having only completed the acquisition of Yourgene three months ago, is a real testament to the capabilities and expertise across our technical, clinical and commercial teams.
"The launch of Sage presents a significant opportunity to extend Premaitha’s footprint and market penetration across Asia Pacific and other regions. Yourgene already has a strong, established network of customers across APAC and we are now in a position to offer a complete NIPT solution to address the needs of any laboratory, with our IONA test continuing to service demand for premium CE-IVD testing.
“Our team will work with local customers across the APAC region to increase understanding of the benefits of NIPT and raise awareness in and amongst clinicians. Premaitha is also very keen to support healthcare professionals offering Sage and IONA with comprehensive clinical and technical training to ensure they are well equipped to counsel pregnant women on their NIPT options.”