Sequenom Launches Morrisville Testing Lab
The Sequenom Center for Molecular Medicine has opened its Morrisville laboratory for processing of the company’s MaterniT21 PLUS non-invasive prenatal blood test to detect Down syndrome from a woman’s blood sample as early as 10 weeks of pregnancy.
The Center, a subsidiary of San Diego-based Sequenom Inc., is processing patient samples commercially after passing regulatory approvals. The company said it adds capacity and redundancy to existing Sequenom CMM laboratories in California and Michigan.
Sequenom announced in late 2011 that it planned to spend $19 million to open the lab in Morrisville because it wanted to take advantage of North Carolina's relatively low costs of doing business and its highly trained bioscience workforce.
With an initial capacity of 100,000 tests per year, the North Carolina facility increases Sequenom CMM's total MaterniT21 PLUS testing capacity to over 300,000 test samples a year.
"We are excited about the opening in North Carolina of our third U.S.-based laboratory location," said William Welch, Sequenom’s president and COO..
“Our investment in establishing this new presence on the East Coast will allow us to better meet the needs of health care providers by providing critical additional capacity and geographic back-up needed to address the rapidly growing adoption of our testing services."