Issued on behalf of Premaitha Health plc
Manchester, UK: Monday, 15 June 2015
Clinical and performance data from the IONA® test to be presented at the World Congress in Fetal Medicine, Crete
Manchester, UK 15 June 2015 – Premaitha Health plc (“Premaitha”, AIM: NIPT) is pleased to announce that two leading fetal medicine consultants will be presenting clinical and performance data for the IONA® test at the World Congress in Fetal Medicine from 21 -25 June 2015 in Crete.
The presentations will be given by key opinion leaders in the fetal medicine field on Monday 22 June 2015 in the session entitled “Screening for trisomies 21, 18 and 13” and will take place at the following times:
• 16:10: Dr Brenda Kelly, Consultant Obstetrician and Fetal Medicine Specialist at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, UK will present clinical validation data of the IONA® test.
• 16:18: Dr Liona Poon, Clinical Senior Lecturer and Consultant in Fetal Medicine and Obstetrics at Harris Birthright Research Centre for Fetal Medicine, Division of Women’s Health, King’s College London, UK will present data on the screening performance of the IONA® test at 11-13 weeks.
Premaitha’s IONA® test is the first CE-marked in vitro diagnostic (IVD) product for non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT), enabling clinical laboratories to offer an NIPT service in-house. The advanced screening test analyses cell-free fetal DNA from a sample of maternal blood, using next-generation sequencing technology to estimate the risk of a fetus having serious genetic disorders such as Down’s syndrome (Trisomy 21), Edwards’ syndrome (Trisomy 18) and Patau’s syndrome (Trisomy 13).
The IONA® test has a fully automated, standardised workflow with a three day turnaround to result, allowing pregnant women and their families to receive the information they need to make informed decisions in a much faster timeframe, reducing anxiety as much as possible.
The high sensitivity and specificity of the test also greatly reduces the number of pregnant women needing to undergo invasive follow-up procedures such as amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling which are stressful and carry a small risk of miscarriage.
The congress programme can be viewed here: https://fetalmedicine.org/var/uploads/web/14th%20WCFM%20program.pdf
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For more information, please contact:
Premaitha Health plc
Dr Stephen Little, Chief Executive Officer
Jo Cross, Head of Marketing
Tel: +44 (0) 161 667 6865
Email: investors@premaitha.com
iona@premaitha.com
Instinctif Partners (Media – Premaitha)
Melanie Toyne Sewell / Jen Lewis / Emma Barlow
Tel: +44 (0) 207 457 2020
Email: premaitha@instinctif.com
Notes:
About Premaitha Health
Premaitha is an innovative molecular diagnostics company employing the latest advances in DNA analysis technology to develop tests for non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPT) and other applications. Premaitha’s flagship product, the IONA® test is the first non-invasive in vitro diagnostic product for prenatal screening enabling clinical laboratories to offer CE-marked NIPT in-house for the first time.
The IONA® test estimates the risk of a fetus having Down’s syndrome or other serious genetic diseases. The IONA® test has a higher detection rate and lower false positive rate than existing screening tests, giving pregnant women, their families and their doctors greater confidence in the result and reducing the need for unnecessary invasive follow-up tests and the associated anxiety and stress.
The IONA® test is a complete diagnostic system that is simple and standardised, enabling Premaitha’s clinical laboratory customers to perform the test in their own facilities. This supports Premaitha’s strategy of accelerating the broad dissemination of NIPT tests to ensure that their benefits are available to pregnant women everywhere.
Premaitha is listed on the London Stock Exchange (AIM). Its R&D, manufacturing and commercial operation is located at Manchester Science Park, UK.
For further information please visit www.premaitha.com or email iona@premaitha.com
