Angle sees 'highly encouraging' results from prenatal testing

Angle revealed that Parsortix had appeared to score well against several existing methods of non-invasive prenatal testing, but would require substantial further work before it could develop an effective non-invasive test.

"A test utilising intact fetal cells could have much wider application than the current cell-free tests," Angle said.

Angle stated that Parsortix was able to harvest intact cells, something that could be used to look for abnormalities, such as Down's Syndrome, as currently-available technology only allowed for fragments of dead fetal cells to be collected, limiting the scope for testing and assessment.

The AIM-listed firm said its test was able to distinguish between male and female chromosomes and, in one case, correctly identified trisomy 21, the marker for Down's.

"This was a small-scale pilot study and, whilst highly encouraging, substantial further work will be necessary to develop an effective NIPT test," Angle said.

Founder and chief executive Andrew Newland, said: "Non-invasive prenatal testing is a major new market for the Parsortix system and a potential solution to the current limitations of NIPT, providing a more comprehensive diagnosis of fetal abnormalities for mothers at risk of an affected pregnancy."

As of 1230 BST, Angle shares had climbed 8.35% to 42.80p.