Preterm Birth
Worldwide statistics reflect that as many as 13 million babies
are born prematurely each year, and this figure is predicted to
increase.
On its webpages the U.S. charity organization, March of Dimes
calls prematurity a silent crisis in America. Each year, 100,000
children develop health problems because of their early births at
the same time as an estimated $820 million is spent on preterm
hospitalization subsequently shown to have been unnecessary.
PerkinElmer is actively reviewing a number of candidate markers
for preterm birth with different collaborators including the
University of Leicester, UK (a multi-year license and research
collaboration agreement, announced in 2007, on the clinical
investigation and discovery of biomarkers that predict preterm
birth).