An Israeli company aiming to harness artificial intelligence to screen unborn babies for hundreds of genetic anomalies is set to debut on the Australian stock exchange.
Identifai Genetics will float on October 13 at a market capitalisation of $38.4 million.
This follows an initial public offering poised to raise $10 million to help fund commercialisation of its next-generation pre-natal tests.
The Tel Aviv-based company was founded on the research conducted by Professor Noam Shomron, head of the functional genomics team at Tel Aviv University.
“He’s world-renowned in genetics and genomics,” Identifai boss Eyal Miller told AAP during a video interview this week.
“He was the one who came up with the idea to develop AI and machine learning specifically for prenatal genetic testing.”
Identifai is looking to expand on self-funded non-invasive pregnancy tests, which have been offered to pregnant women since about 2012 to screen unborn children for a handful of chromosomal abnormalities such as Down syndrome.
Identifai’s Windrose test uses a single maternal blood draw taken as early as nine weeks of pregnancy to screen for more than 280 inherited genetic conditions.
It then utilises a machine learning algorithm to compare the fetus’s cell-free DNA with that of its mother to detect disease-causing mutations.
“The idea is that even if it’s one change, one mutation, we’ll be able to track it down,” Mr Miller told AAP.
“Not to limit ourselves to a limited panel of genes or limited conditions like all the other tests but looking for the first time through the entire genome.”
There are 54 different medical conditions treatable in utero and 267 conditions that should be treated within the first week of life, according to Identifai.
“Most of the time, what is happening in a real-life scenario, the indication comes in too late and basically clinicians can do nothing,” Mr Miller said.
Identifai cites the example of Pompe disease, a rare genetic condition where a complex sugar called glycogen builds up in the body, causing potentially irreversible muscle and organ damage.
Detection through a comprehensive gene scan would allow early treatment before symptoms even emerge.
The Windrose process is undergoing a 600-patient clinical validation trial in the United States expected to run until late 2027.
Identifai decided to list on the ASX partly because of the success of other Israeli companies and because of investor enthusiasm in Australia for biotechnology stocks, Mr Miller said.
Identifai will join the likes of medical diagnostic companies BlinkLab, Artrya and 4DMedical on the local bourse.
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