PerkinElmer, Inc. (PKI) provides products and services relative to neonatal screens, prenatal screening and maternal health. Based in Waltham, Massachusetts, the company designs, manufactures, and markets service products and systems within two business units: Life and Analytical Sciences, and Optoelectronics.
The Life and Analytical Sciences unit provides precision instrumentation, reagents and chemistries, software and services for a wide range of scientific and industrial laboratory applications, including genetic screening, drug discovery and development, environmental monitoring, food and beverage quality, and chemical analysis. The Optoelectronics unit provides digital imaging, sensors and specialty lighting components used in biomedical, consumer products and other specialty markets.
The company recently announced a one-year agreement with Mexico’s ministry of health, La Secretaria de Salud, to expand its newborn screening program across Mexico. Under the terms of the agreement, PerkinElmer will provide instrumentation, reagents and screening expertise that will help the ministry screen for congenital hypothyroidism and triple its screen capacity. The expanded program began in May 2008.
In 2007, the company provided technology to screen approximately 640,000 newborns in 14 laboratories across Mexico. Under this new agreement, the number of screenings will increase to approximately 1.9 million tests per year. The ministry will use the company’s DELFIA® and AutoDELFIA® Neonatal TSH (hTSH) kits, and VICTOR™ platform to screen for congenital hypothyroidism (CH) in newborns. CH is an inherited metabolic disorder which occurs in 1 in 3,000-6,000 babies worldwide. Untreated, CH can lead to severe mental retardation.
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