Substantial price reduction for 24 Chromosome Aneuploidy Screening

Oct 20 2009

Gene Security Network, Inc. (GSN) today announced a substantial price reduction for its 24 Chromosome Aneuploidy Screening with Parental Support^TM. Effective immediately, pricing has been restructured to a single flat fee for testing of up to 24 embryos in an in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle. Overall price has been reduced by approximately 25% which will remain in effect for the remainder of 2009.

“By lowering prices and making them comparable to pricing for 12-probe FISH, we are pleased to be able to open doors for more people to benefit from the most thorough, accurate and reliable preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) test available,” said Matthew Rabinowitz, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Gene Security Network. “We are extremely pleased with our early data. 24 Chromosome Aneuploidy Screening with Parental Support^TM has resulted in a 50% ongoing pregnancy rate and has dramatically reduced miscarriage rates for patients undergoing PGS, most of whom have had problems with previous IVF cycles. We look forward to formalizing these results in a clinical study in early 2010.”

Aneuploidy, or an abnormal number of chromosomes, is found in about 70% of embryos created during in vitro fertilization. Aneuploidy can result in: failure of the embryo to implant (become a pregnancy), miscarriage, or the birth of a baby with a genetic syndrome or birth defects. Couples undergoing IVF who wish to avoid transferring an embryo with aneuploidy can opt for preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) – testing of a single embryonic cell for normal chromosome status - prior to deciding which embryos to transfer during the IVF cycle.

GSN’s testing technique, called Parental Support^TM, uses a proprietary bioinformatics approach based on the basic biological premise that all the genetic material in an embryo is derived from the mother and the father. Unlike other forms of PGS, Parental Support is able to screen all chromosomes, identify certain chromosome structural abnormalities, determine the source of aneuploidy, and identify other types of abnormalities not routinely detected by other testing techniques. Results are fast, reliable, and returned to the doctor in time for the patient to undergo transfer of a normal embryo back to the uterus during the same IVF cycle.