LabCorp Offers Sera's PreTRM To Assess Preterm Birth Risk
Zacks Investment Research | May 23, 2017 09:11PM ET
Leading diagnostics testing company LabCorp (NYSE:LH) recently announced the availability of Sera Prognostics, Inc.’s PreTRM test at its laboratories in the U.S. It is the only validated blood test offering an early and individualized prediction of preterm birth risk. At the beginning of this year, LabCorp had announced a strategic tie-up with Sera for exclusive U.S. distributorship of the test.
LabCorp has been a lead investor in Sera’s recently closed Series C financing round. The purpose is to continue building clinical evidence to support reimbursement and insurance coverage decisions as well as extend the commercialization of the PreTRM test.
The test was supported by the landmark Proteomic Assessment of Preterm Risk study, evaluating over 5,500 pregnant women over 300 proteins in maternal blood. The study also identified a two-protein signature which was highly predictive of spontaneous preterm birth. The test will help physicians easily predict the risk of preterm birth and intervene earlier to extend the pregnancy toward full term. PreTRM is performed on a standard blood specimen collected during weeks 19 and 20 of pregnancy.
Notably, LabCorp is quite optimistic about its partnership with Sera as the PreTRM test is part of the former’s strategy to deliver world-class diagnostic services. In this regard, we note that preterm birth is the leading cause of infant mortality and morbidity in the U.S. and worldwide.
According to a March of Dimes report, around 400,000 of the 4,000,000 annual births in the U.S. are preterm and up to 50% of women delivering prematurely do not have any identified risk factors for preterm birth. It has also been observed that the children born prematurely can require long term or lifetime care that comes at additional cost.
PreTRM is considered a significant addition to LabCorp’s differentiated women healthcare and reproductive genetics portfolio. The company offers MaterniT 21, a clinically validated non-invasive prenatal test, and the largest network of genetic counselors who can help patients understand genetic test results. LabCorp also offers patient-focused services such as support to obtain insurance pre-authorization before a test is performed and a personalized estimate of the out-of-pocket cost of services before specimen collection by the company.
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