Prenetics raises $2.65M to drive its non-invasive DNA testing service

Prenetics

DNA biotechnology company Prenetics has a new CEO and investor – Danny Yeung, who led a $2.65 million strategic seed funding round of international investors into the company. Previously, Mr. Yeung was CEO of Groupon East Asia after having his start-up uBuyiBuy acquired by Internet Giant Groupon in 2010.

The company is officially launching a new DNA based Non-Invasive Prenatal Test (NIPT) for the early detection of fetal health problems. The Prenetics V test provides testing as early as the tenth week of pregnancy, with 99.9% accuracy and results in just 5-7 days.

Prenetics’ procedure requires just a simple blood test from the expectant mother to detect a total of 16 conditions.The procedure requires just a simple blood test from the expectant mother to detect a total of 16 conditions including Down Syndrome, Edwards Syndrome and Patau Syndrome, the 3 most common chromosomal abnormalities during pregnancy. What’s more, it provides up to 200 times greater accuracy over traditional screening tests and with no risk of harm to the fetus — it doesn’t involve invasive procedures such as CVS or Amniocentesis.

“With traditional screening methods, accuracy is between 80-90%, this means 1 out of 5 pregnancies may not be properly diagnosed,” said Dr Lawrence Tzang, Prenetics Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer. “This is a significant figure in the medical world and we intend to use DNA technology to solve this problem.”

Prenetics has built an ISO-accredited and World Health Organization-certified diagnostics laboratory in Hong Kong. This laboratory capitalizes on the power of next-generation DNA sequencing technology and a highly optimized algorithm to provide clearer resolution.