Sequenom shares rise on study results of HPV screening platform

July 14 (Reuters) - Sequenom (SQNM.O) shares rose as much as 12 percent in pre-market trade Tuesday, a day after the company said a study showed that its genetic analysis platform detected sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) in nearly half of women who tested negative by the standard-of-care test.

The results from the study were published by the University of Michigan, Sequenom said in a statement. [ID:nBNG382861]

However, getting to market with a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved HPV test is a lengthy process, Collins Stewart analyst Keay Nakae said, cutting Sequenom's price target to $3 from $6.

"The next step would be to conduct further studies in order to better define a clinically meaningful HPV detection level, as well as to conduct a more significant evaluation of the test in a larger, well-characterized study population, with predefined clinical endpoints," Nakae wrote in a research note on Tuesday.

The analyst, who has a "sell" rating on the stock, said the brokerage would continue to have a negative opinion on the stock until results of an ongoing investigation into the "mishandling" of the company's clinical data for its prenatal test are announced.

In June, Sequenom had said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission initiated an investigation related to the company's Down Syndrome test SEQureDx. [ID:nBNG505099]

Shares of the company were trading up 7 percent at $3.96 before the bell. They closed at $3.70 Monday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Shailesh Kuber in Bangalore; Editing by Aradhana Aravindan)