Affymetrix and Ariosa Diagnostics Announce Agreement in Support of Ariosa’s Harmony™ Non-Invasive Prenatal Test

Affymetrix and Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc. today announced the signing of a multi-year supply agreement covering Affymetrix arrays and instruments to be utilized as part of Ariosa’s Harmony™ Non-Invasive Prenatal Test (NIPT). The partnership enables Ariosa to pursue the development of a Harmony test kit that will allow other laboratories around the world to adopt and perform this test.

This announcement follows the recent publication of a study in Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy online in which Ariosa’s scientists successfully tested and implemented Affymetrix microarrays as part of a DNA quantification method for the Harmony test. The study demonstrated better performance of Affymetrix microarrays in comparison to a next generation sequencing approach in regard to shorter turn-around time and improved precision in measuring chromosome concentration and fetal fraction of cell-free DNA.

“We are pleased with the Affymetrix partnership as they have been a solid and reliable supplier. Our work on the microarray opens up the possibility to further broaden access to the Harmony test via a kit decentralization strategy,” said Ken Song, CEO of Ariosa. “We are excited about the opportunity to improve prenatal care for women globally.”

Ariosa Diagnostics is a partner in the Affymetrix’s Powered by Affymetrix™ Program. “Our array and assay technologies are foundational genomic tools in reproductive health and oncology applications. Our partners are providing innovative solutions for unmet needs in these critical areas,” said Frank Witney, President and CEO of Affymetrix. “We are pleased to work with Ariosa to supply arrays and instrumentation in support of their global business strategy.”

About the Harmony Test
The Harmony prenatal test is a non-invasive blood test for pregnant women that can be used as early as 10 weeks into pregnancy. By evaluating cell-free DNA found in maternal blood, the test can assess the risk of Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) in the fetus. It has been validated with the largest clinical data set in the prenatal cell-free DNA space, making it the most broadly studied cell-free DNA test. It is available in more than 90 countries and has been used to guide clinical care in over 350,000 pregnancies worldwide.