Macrogen Launches famplan™ Genetic Carrier Testing, and ABOOBA™ Genetic Test for Newborns

SEOUL, South Korea–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Macrogen (CEO Hyon-yong Chong, www.macrogen.com)
(KOSDAQ:038290), a biotechnology company in the area of precision
medicine, announced its official worldwide launch of famplan™, a genetic
carrier test, and ABOOBA™, a genetic test for newborns, in celebration
of May 15, the International Day of Families.
famplan™ is an abbreviation for “family plan,” and it serves to identify
potential hereditary diseases in newborns by analyzing their parents’
genetic makeup and identifying genetic disease carriers. As the world’s
most extensive carrier test, famplan™ looks for more than 2,000
hereditary disease-related risks and aids in the prevention of
congenital hereditary problems, helping mothers to give birth to healthy
children. In particular, it is appropriate for future parents who might
be worried about the cost, as it is in the most affordable price range
among the established tests.
ABOOBA™ is an abbreviation for “about the baby.” It is a service that
analyzes a newborn’s genetic makeup in order to check for congenital
hereditary diseases. Because the ABOOBA™ test uses the newest available
genetic analysis technology, it can offer a risk analysis of all the
newborn-related hereditary diseases known today. Fifty percent of
hereditary diseases are found within a year of a child’s birth, but if
found early with ABOOBA™, diseases can be prevented with appropriate
intensive care, the time of onset can be delayed, and even after
occurrence, symptoms can be alleviated. Also, the customer can
continually receive updated information if a new hereditary disease is
found even after running just a single test.
Customers all over the world can request famplan™ and ABOOBA™ tests and
their results through hospitals, and the results are out within two to
three weeks from the day of reception. In particular, famplan™ offers a
convenient online service at its official websites, famplan.macrogen.com
and clinic.macrogen.com.
Macrogen
can now offer a total care solution in managing hereditary diseases and
their risks from before conception to right after birth with its launch
last November of faest™—an advanced test to analyze genetic makeup
before childbirth—and current launch of famplan™ and ABOOBA™. Future
parents who are expecting a child can start family planning by first
identifying the child’s hereditary disease risks with famplan™, and at
an early stage of pregnancy the child’s chromosomes can be checked for
abnormality through faest™. Furthermore, ABOOBA™ can be used after birth
to identify the newborn’s risk of getting a hereditary disease, thus
offering customers a comprehensive and systematic testing service. In
particular, customers can use Macrogen’s package service for testing,
thus minimizing the financial burden while still taking advantage of a
more systematic and planned testing service.
CEO Hyon-yong Chong said, “Macrogen was able to offer a total care
solution before childbirth through continuous research and development
in this area after the launch of faest™ as well as the accumulated
know-how after operating a genetic makeup analysis service for the past
20 years.” He added, “We will continue to do our best to give a
trustworthy service to parents who want a healthy child so that they can
plan for a happy and healthy family, and manage their family’s health
systematically.”
Since last year, Macrogen has been expanding its clinical and general
customers with the successive launches of the advanced genetic makeup
testing service faest™, the genetic test for pets MyPETGENE™
and the genetic identification service iD4U™
in the global market. Macrogen plans to continue to offer diversified
services to the general public so that they can use information on
genetic makeup in everyday life.