PerkinElmer announces baby screening milestone

PerkinElmer has announced it has reached a milestone in screening newborns for genetic disorders.

The firm states that it identified its 100,000th ‘high-risk’ baby recently, allowing intervention to begin within 36 hours of birth.

PerkinElmer claims to be the supplier of the only tandem mass spectrometry kit to be permitted for use by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Robert Friel, president and chief operating officer of PerkinElmer, explains: "Newborn screening for genetic disorders has become one of the most widely accepted procedures in preventative paediatrics."

He adds that the process is crucial in "allowing for the early identification and treatment of otherwise devastating disorders".

According to the company, all four million babies screened for the risk posed to them by genetic disorders in the US each year have their blood processed by a PerkinElmer system.

The tandem mass spectrometry kit has now been available for over a decade, the manufacturer notes, while the firm’s involvement in genetic screening for newborns has lasted for more than 20 years.