PerkinElmer and JN Macri Technologies Sign Licensing Agreement to Expand Prenatal Risk Assessment; Agreement Highlights PerkinElmer’s Continued Investment in Maternal Health Technologies
PerkinElmer Inc. (NYSE: PKI), a world leader in neonatal and prenatal screening, and JN Macri Technologies, LLC have signed a license agreement which gives PerkinElmer rights to manufacture and sell kits for the measurement of free beta human chorionic gonadotrophin (free hCGa) in liquid blood for risk assessment of fetal anomalies during pregnancy.
As a marker of Down’s syndrome and other trisomies, free hCGa is an important means of improving the efficacy of risk assessment within the first trimester of pregnancy. The technology covered under the agreement includes reagents used to detect amounts of free hCGa in the blood of pregnant women, and software that utilizes free hCGa measurements to calculate the risk of a fetus having chromosomal abnormalities.
“We are pleased to expand our capabilities in the high growth area of maternal health screening,” said Peter B. Coggins, Ph.D., president of PerkinElmer Life and Analytical Sciences. “With our leading edge screening technologies, early detection programs increase treatment and management options and improve the quality of life.”
“Measurement of free hCGa allows for a noninvasive, highly accurate risk assessment during pregnancy,” said Dr. J.N. Macri, president and chief executive officer of JN Macri Technologies. “We are pleased that our agreement with PerkinElmer will enable greater market access to this important technology.”
