Sequenom Shares Popped: What You Need to Know (SQNM)

Sequenom Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Sequenom (Nasdaq: SQNM ) have popped by as much as 14% today on news that the company has launched its new Down syndrome prenatal test.

So what: The test will be available in 20 different U.S. cities today, two years after a previous attempt to bring it to market experienced a setback because employees mishandled sensitive research data. A clinical validation study showed that the blood test is able to detect 99.1% of all positive cases of Trisomy 21, the genetic defect that commonly causes Down syndrome.

Now what: Sequenom utilizes a blood test from a pregnant woman, compared to the current method of amniocentesis, inserting a needle into the uterus to sample amniotic fluid. Amniocentesis carries the risk of miscarriage and the new test can reduce procedure-related losses by up to 96% while also boasting high accuracy. Sequenom is targeting 750,000 tests in the U.S. annually.

Interested in more info on Sequenom? Add it to your watchlist by clicking here.

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Report this Comment On October 17, 2011, at 3:52 PM, cptech wrote:

Yeah, Sequenom!! Once a $400 stock; should be a $25-30 stock now. Should get moving again with the externally verified T21 test results and start of clinical test marketing & sales. Very little down side risk here. This one has no reason not to move up strongly. Now with a new management team doing things right!