NEW YORK – CooperSurgical and Fulgent Genetics announced on Friday that they have partnered to offer families of CooperSurgical's Cord Blood Registry (CBR)exclusive access to Fulgent's newborn genetic screening panels.
While financial details of the partnership were not disclosed, it will grant CBR families access to three tests through Fulgent's Picture Genetics platform.
The genetic screening tests comprise CBR Snapshot, CBR Portrait, and CBR Landscape, which screen for over 250 genes, 600 genes, and 1,500 genes, respectively, covering a broad swath of disorders. All three tests evaluate over 30 genes associated with conditions that are potentially treatable with newborn stem cells as part of a stem cell transplant.
CBR Snapshot screens children for genes related to metabolic disorders, blood disorders, cancers, cardiovascular disorders, and hearing and/or vision loss, where early detection may provide actionable information and may be managed with medication, diet, or other therapies.
CBR Portrait covers all genes in CBR Snapshot, plus additional genes related to hearing loss, actionable epilepsy, immunodeficiency, heart conditions, and neonatal diabetes, and can potentially identify more rare causes of these conditions.
CBR Landscape covers everything in both CBR Snapshot and CBR Portrait along with genes associated with an even broader range of genetic conditions. CBR Landscape also includes a pharmacogenetic component that can identify an individual's potential for adverse reactions to more than 100 medications.
"Partnering with CBR allows us to help provide more families with actionable information about their newborn's health," Brandon Perthuis, chief commercial officer of Fulgent Genetics, said in a statement.
A study led by Fulgent Genetics in 2022 found that patient-initiated newborn genetic screening can result in clinically actionable genetic diagnoses. In a number of cases, these diagnoses were for conditions that are not routinely tested for by state-mandated screening measures.
CooperSurgical exited genetic carrier screening in 2018, closing its CooperGenomics business, and now focuses on women's health and fertility.