Synlab, a European laboratory diagnostics provider, and Counsyl, a DNA testing company, have agreed to offer Counsyl’s Expanded Carrier Screening (ECS) test in select countries in Europe and Latin America. The ECS test uses full-exon sequencing to identify couples who are at risk of passing inherited disorders to their children. Using either a blood or saliva sample, the assay screens for more than 175 serious conditions, such as cystic fibrosis and spinal muscular atrophy, and has an average turnaround time of 2 weeks. According to Counsyl, a large U.S. study previously showed that Family Prep Screen, the U.S. brand name for the ECS test, uncovers more affected pregnancies across all ethnicities than the tests recommended by current guidelines
from the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics.

Under the terms of this partnership, Synlab will trademark Counsyl’s test as preconGEN and will market it in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, and Colombia.