Sequenom and Lifecodexx partner to develop non-invasive test for
trisomy 21
31 August 2011
Sequenom, Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM), a life sciences company
providing innovative genetic analysis solutions, has partnered with
LifeCodexx AG, a company focused on the development of clinically
validated molecular diagnostics, for the commercialization of prenatal
laboratory testing services in Europe.
The companies have agreed to collaborate in the development and
launch of a trisomy 21 laboratory developed test and other
aneuploidies testing in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and
Liechtenstein, with the potential for additional launches in other
countries.
The completion of the agreement with LifeCodexx initiates
Sequenom’s first European commercial partnership in the field of
non-invasive prenatal diagnostics. Under this initial five-year
licensing agreement, Sequenom has granted LifeCodexx licenses to key
patent rights, including European Patent EP0994963B1 and pending
application EP2183693A1, that enable the development and
commercialization of a non-invasive aneuploidy test utilizing
circulating cell free fetal DNA in maternal plasma. Per the
agreement, LifeCodexx will make certain upfront and minimum annual
royalty payments to Sequenom as well as royalties based on sales of
testing services.
“This agreement enables us to extend the licensing rights to our
proprietary testing modality internationally, and we are excited to
be partnering with a high quality laboratory like LifeCodexx in this
endeavor,” said Harry F. Hixson, Chairman and CEO of Sequenom, Inc.
“This is the first of our ex-U.S. licensing agreements that enables
a partner to commercialize a trisomy 21 laboratory developed test,
another step in bringing this test to market and in achieving our
corporate goals set forth for 2011.”
“We are pleased to be the first to partner with Sequenom and to
initially provide this testing service to German speaking regions of
the European market. We are now in a strong position to exploit the
clinical utility and proprietary science behind the noninvasive
detection of trisomy 21 and eventually other aneuploidies using
shotgun sequencing as initially developed by Dr. Dennis Lo and his
team,” added Dr. Michael Lutz, CEO of LifeCodexx AG. “Building upon
our recently initiated clinical validation study for our trisomy 21
test, this agreement is another key milestone with respect to our
goal of launching our first test by late 2011.