Natera Inc., which teamed up with MedGenome, to perform the Panorama non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) has now expanded its offering to provide Constellation, a cloud-based software platform, for clinical genomic analysis.

MedGenome is the first provider to offer NIPT locally in India and is the first to be PNDT (prenatal diagnostic techniques) certified for NIPT.

Panorama is a safe and simple way for expectant mothers to know the health of their fetus without an invasive diagnostic procedure, to screen for chromosome abnormalities, including trisomy 21 (Down syndrome), trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome), trisomy 13 (Patau syndrome), monosomy X (Turner syndrome), and triploidy. The screening test can be performed as early as nine weeks of gestation and there is no risk to the fetus. In accordance with Indian law, Panorama will not be used to reveal the gender of the fetus.

The Constellation software platform provides cloud-based access to the bioinformatic algorithms that Natera has developed for clinical genomic applications in circulating cell-free DNA. The availability of these algorithms allows partner laboratories around the world to rapidly develop and validate their own clinical genomic assays for current applications such as NIPT and non-invasive prenatal paternity testing and future products in development such as liquid biopsy assays for oncology. The Constellation software platform is developed to meet rigorous patient privacy standards and is highly scalable to accommodate the growing demand for genetic testing around the world.

MedGenome genetics facility underwent a multiple step verification and validation process during the technology transfer. Of the first hundred conventional high-risk samples tested commercially, 98 percent were reported to be low risk by Panorama test. Only two percent required confirmatory invasive testing, which is a significant reduction in the number of unwanted invasive procedures.

"We are pleased that MedGenome has chosen the Natera Constellation platform to offer NIPT to the large and rapidly-growing market in India," said Dr Matthew Rabinowitz, CEO, Natera.

"Constellation is a highly scalable platform that enables non-invasive DNA testing capabilities to laboratories around the world,” he added.