BRUSSELS, Belgium, May 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

Description:

Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT), is a method of determining the risk of whether the fetus of the mother will be born with certain genetic abnormalities. NIPT is a safe and highly effective way of screening for conditions such as Down syndrome, Edwards syndrome, Patau syndrome, monosomy X, and Turner syndrome.

Currently, there is two types of NIPT methods that are commercially available, massive parallel sequencing (MPS) technology and the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) based method.

Shift towards Cell-Free DNA screening

The Discovery of cell-free DNA (cfDNA)-based NIPT has created a rapid shift in the paradigm of aneuploidy screening during pregnancy. It’s a simple blood test that can be performed during pregnancy. Clinical validation studies suggest that NIPT is more accurate than combined first-trimester screening (CFTS), with very high sensitivity (99.3%) and specificity (99.9%) for trisomy 21(Down syndrome). NIPT is also safer than other invasive diagnostic techniques such as chorionic villus sampling and amniocentesis, which involves a risk of miscarriage (0.1–0.2%).

Advent of Advanced Technologies for NIPT Products

The advent of next-generation sequencing technology has enabled the sequencing of fetal DNA fragments that can be assembled into a full genetic map, allowing the fetal genome to be scanned prenatally and non-invasively. Developments in molecular technologies and the discovery of cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma have also led to novel screening methods for fetal chromosomal aneuploidies.

Currently, various types of NIPT tests are available in the market such as Panorama, Vistara, MaterniT GENOME, Harmony Test, among others which help in the screening…