Prenatal Diagnostic Technology Licensed

(Oxford, UK) to Sequenom, Inc. (San Diego, CA, USA). Financial terms include up-front fees, milestone payments, and royalties on product sales.

The intellectual property covers prenatal genetic diagnostic testing on fetal nucleic acids derived from plasma or serum, which includes tests such as cystic fibrosis, hemoglobinopathies (sickle cell anemia and the thalassemias), and chromosomal aneuploidies (e.g., Down syndrome) on any platform, including mass spectrometry and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification platforms.

The technology was first developed at the University of Oxford in 1997 by Professors Dennis Lo (Chinese University of Hong Kong) and James Wainscoat (John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK). Prof. Lo, a renowned researcher in the study of noninvasive prenatal genetic analysis, is presently collaborating with Sequenom on related matters. Isis Innovation is the technology transfer company of the University of Oxford.

"The licensed rights enable the development and performance of tests on any relevant platform, including the MassARRAY system, which is highly enabling for certain prenatal tests such as Rhesus D (RhD),” said Harry Stylli, M.B.A., Ph.D., president and CEO of Sequenom. "There is considerable unmet need for new approaches that enable noninvasive prenatal diagnostic testing for expectant mothers.”





Related Links:
Isis Innovation
Sequenom