A company listing on the ASX on 13 October runs whole genome sequencing on a mum’s blood from around 9 weeks of pregnancy. It’s called Identifai Genetics, and its technology comes out of research in Israel.
The gap
Prenatal tests that screen a baby’s DNA from the mother’s blood have been around for over a decade, but most look for a handful of things, such as Down syndrome. The newer single gene tests go further: BillionToOne’s Unity screens for 14 conditions and Natera’s Fetal Focus covers 21 genes.
The platform
Identifai’s test, Windrose, sequences the whole genome from the same blood sample, then uses AI to screen more than 280 clinically actionable genes for inherited conditions.
The early data
According to the company, interim work on 50 high risk pregnancies reported 100% overall accuracy. That’s a small number. A 600 patient clinical validation trial in the US is expected to run until late 2027.
The team
CEO Eyal Miller leads the company. The science comes from Prof Noam Shomron, head of the functional genomics team at Tel Aviv University, whose research behind the platform started in 2016.
The float
The IPO is raising $10M, reportedly at 20c a share, for a market cap of about $38.4M at listing. It joins other ASX listed diagnostics companies such as 4DMedical, Artrya and BlinkLab.
My read
280 genes is the headline, but 50 is the number I’d watch. If the accuracy holds across thousands of pregnancies in the US trial, the incumbents have a real problem. Until then it’s early. This is general information, not financial advice.