Laboratory Corp of America Holdings, Burlington, NC, a company specializing in prenatal clinical laboratory testing, now offers integrated screening and sequential screening tests under license from Intema Limited, UK, to help detect Down syndrome.

When integrated screening and sequential test results include a fetal ultrasound nuchal translucency measurement, high Down syndrome detection rates are achieved and fewer false positives are experienced than with first- or second-trimester screening, the company said.

In January 2007, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended that regardless of age, all pregnant women be offered screening for Down syndrome, and ideally, be offered screening that combines first- and second-trimester screening.

LabCorp, an S&P 500 company that commercialized new diagnostic technologies and embraced genomic testing, has signed an agreement with Intema to license its technology for combining first and second trimester Down syndrome screening test results.