Sequenom Acquires Digital PCR License - Drug Discovery and Development

Sequenom, Inc. acquired exclusive worldwide rights (excluding Hong Kong) to digital PCR and other noninvasive prenatal diagnostic intellectual property from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. These rights expand Sequenom’s existing portfolio of noninvasive prenatal diagnostic methods using fetal nucleic acids obtained from a maternal sample. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The exclusive, technology-independent, digital PCR rights announced today, which were developed and validated on Sequenom’s MassARRAY platform and Fluidigm’s platform, can be adapted for any of the digital PCR platforms that are available, and include the use of fetal nucleic acids obtained from a maternal sample, along with methods of analysis for noninvasive Down (trisomy 21), Edward (trisomy 18), Patau (trisomy 13) and other chromosomal aneuploidy syndrome diagnoses or other autosomal recessive disorders (e.g. cystic fibrosis, thalassemia, Ashkenazi Jewish diseases) utilizing digital PCR.

Release Date: September 15, 2008
Source: Sequenom