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Description of Business
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Description of Business  
Description of Business

1. Description of Business

Natera, Inc. (the "Company") was formed in the state of California as Gene Security Network, LLC in November 2003 and incorporated in the state of Delaware in January 2007. The Company’s mission is to change the management of genetic disease worldwide. The Company operates a laboratory certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments ("CLIA") providing a host of preconception and prenatal genetic testing services. The Company determines its operating segments based on the way it organizes its business to make operating decisions and assess performance. The Company has only one operating segment, which is the discovery, development and commercialization of genetic testing services, and it has a subsidiary that operates in the state of Texas.

The Company's product offerings include its Panorama Non-Invasive Prenatal Test ("NIPT") that screens for chromosomal abnormalities of a fetus typically with a blood draw from the mother; Vistara (“Vistara”), a single-gene mutations screening test performed to identify single-gene disorders; Horizon Carrier Screening ("HCS") to determine carrier status for a large number of severe genetic diseases that could be passed on to the carrier’s children; Spectrum to analyze chromosomal anomalies or inherited genetic conditions during an in vitro fertilization ("IVF") cycle to select embryos for the highest probability of a successful pregnancy; Anora Products of Conception ("POC") test to rapidly and extensively analyze fetal chromosomes to understand the cause of miscarriage; Non-Invasive Paternity Testing ("PAT"), to determine paternity by analyzing the fragments of fetal deoxyribonucleic acid ("DNA") in a pregnant mother's blood and a blood sample from the alleged father(s), which is marketed and sold by a licensee from whom the Company receives a royalty. All testing is available principally in the United States, and the Company also offers its Panorama test to customers primarily in Europe. The Company also offers Constellation (“Constellation”), a cloud-based software product that allows laboratory customers to gain access through the cloud to the Company’s algorithms and bioinformatics in order to validate and launch tests based on the Company’s technology. The Company also offers Signatera (“Signatera”), a circulating tumor DNA technology that analyzes and tracks mutations specific to an individual's tumor. The Company offered Evercord, a cord blood and cord tissue processing and storage service, through September 2019. The Evercord service line was sold to a third-party buyer in September 2019 (Note 13). Further, the Company has expanded its Panorama test to now screen twin pregnancies for zygosity and chromosomal abnormalities.