SAN DIEGO, Sept. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Sequenom, Inc.
(NASDAQ: SQNM), a life sciences company committed to enabling
healthier lives through the development of innovative products and
services, announced today a partnership with the Perinatal Quality
Foundation (PQF) to support an educational program and the creation
of a Genetic Education Module to help health care personnel and
their patients better understand and navigate the prenatal testing
process. The mission of the program is to develop a standardized
education and credentialing process for health care personnel
providing pre- and post-testing information, and to provide tools
and educational resources to allow each woman to make better
informed personal genetic testing decisions.
"The Perinatal Quality Foundation welcomes Sequenom's support of
this important nationwide program," said Mary Norton, M.D., President of the Perinatal
Quality Foundation and Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and
Reproductive Sciences at University of
California, San Francisco. "This critical partnership will
greatly assist us in achieving our vision of providing each
pregnant woman in the U.S. with access to knowledgeable personnel
and educational resources to enable her to choose the most
appropriate prenatal testing decisions for management of her
pregnancy."
The prenatal genetic testing industry has seen significant
advancements, including the availability of cell free DNA (cfDNA)
analysis for noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT), expanded carrier
screening and the introduction of chromosomal microarray analysis
(CMA). The Genetic Education Module will seek to develop and
disseminate information to advance the understanding and
appropriate clinical use of these new technologies through the
development of objective, evidence-based educational tools and
resources that aim to help a woman make genetic testing decisions
that are consistent with her own preferences and values.
"The PQF Genetic Education Module addresses a significant unmet
need for unbiased and high-quality genetic education among health
care providers and patients," said Mary D'Alton, M.D., Chair of The Pregnancy Foundation
and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at
Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. "We are delighted that
Sequenom has joined us in support of this important project."
"This PQF program promises to bridge a major knowledge gap in
the rapidly evolving prenatal testing field. Sequenom is proud to
be a sponsor of this landmark educational initiative, which will
support informed and responsible use of innovative pregnancy
management approaches, such as NIPT," said Daniel Grosu, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of
Sequenom.
PQF's far-reaching educational initiative will include
complementary websites for patients and health care personnel. The
websites and accompanying tools will be designed to provide
adequate knowledge and understanding to providers by offering basic
and accurate explanations of genetic tests to most patients, and
identify patients who will benefit from a referral to a genetic
counselor or geneticist. The Genetic Educational Module is expected
to launch in early 2016.
About Sequenom
Sequenom, Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM) is committed to enabling healthier
lives through the development of innovative products and services.
The Company serves patients and physicians by providing early
patient management information. To learn how Sequenom is
interpreting the genome to improve your life, visit
www.sequenom.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release regarding matters
that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995, including the development of innovative products and
services, the ability to develop a standardized education and
credentialing process for health care personnel providing pre- and
post-testing information, and to provide tools and educational
resources to allow each woman to make better informed personal
genetic testing decisions, the ability of the partnership to assist
the Perinatal Quality Foundation in achieving its vision of
providing each woman in the U.S. with access to knowledgeable
personnel and educational resources to enable her to choose the
most appropriate prenatal testing decisions for management of her
pregnancy, the ability of the Genetic Education Module to develop
and disseminate information to advance the understanding and
appropriate clinical use of new technologies, the ability of the
Genetic Education Module to bridge a major knowledge gap in the
rapidly evolving prenatal testing field, the ability of the Genetic
Education Module to support informed and responsible use of
innovative pregnancy management approaches, such as NIPT, the
expectation that the websites and accompanying tools of the Genetic
Education Module will provide adequate knowledge and understanding
to providers by offering basic and accurate explanations of genetic
tests to most patients, and identify patients who will benefit from
a referral to a genetic counselor or geneticist and the expectation
that the Genetic Educational Module will launch in early
2016. Because such statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Risks are described more fully in the Company's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation
the Company's most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and other
documents subsequently filed with or furnished to the Securities
and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements
contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which
they were made. The Company undertakes no obligation to
update such statements to reflect events that occur or
circumstances that exist after the date on which they were
made.
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SOURCE Sequenom, Inc.