Press release
Illumina Supports Israel's National Program to Accelerate Diagnoses of Critically-Ill Newborns with Suspected Genetic Disease
Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) enables faster identification of disease-causing genetic abnormalities in infants improving clinical care and management SAN
About this update from Illumina, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) enables faster identification of disease-causing genetic abnormalities in infants improving clinical care and management\n\n\nSAN DIEGO, Oct. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) today announced an agreement with Israel's Ministry of Health (MoH) for a pilot program to implement the use of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) in critically-ill infants suspected of having a genetic disorder in neonatal intensive care units (NICU). The program, led by the Genetics Institute (Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center), will evaluate the use of WGS in routine care as an effective first-tier diagnostic tool to enable faster identification of disease-causing genetic abnormalities in infants, aiding their clinical care and management. \nThe 18 hospitals participating in the program will enroll newborns from day 0 to day 90 of life who are admitted to a NICU with a clinically suspected genetic disorder, along with their biological parents. The pilot will begin this month and enrollment will run for up to 24 months, with patients being followed for a total of 180 days after recruitment. This project will lead to the creation of national reimbursement for WGS as a diagnostic tool in hospitals across Israel.\n\"Evidence from other countries shows that whole-genome sequencing offers significant benefits for the diagnosis of suspected genetic disease in critically-ill infants. Based on this international experience, our aim is to implement and provide this approach as a diagnostic assay in all neonatal intensive care wards, ideally replacing the routine diagnostic tests currently used,\" said Dr. Amihood Singer, Head of Community Genetics Department at the Ministry of Health, Israel.\nProf. Hagit Baris-Feldman, Director of the Genetics Institute and Genomic Center at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, and former Chair of the Israeli Medical Geneticists Association, explained: \"Israel is one of the leading countries in the world for genetic disease diagnosis and treatment so we are keen that the introduction of whole-genome sequencing will support rapid clinical decision-making – a very welcome step for critically-ill newborns and their families.\"\n\"We are proud to work with the Ministry of Health and the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center to implement whole-genome sequencing to accelerate the diagnoses of crit...