Orchid Cellmark's Family Relationship and Personal Identity DNA Testing Services

Orchid Cellmark's Family Relationship and Security DNA Testing Services Orchid Cellmark has been a leading provider of parentage and other family relationship DNA analysis since 1987 and is one of the largest family relationship testing providers in the world. Through its accredited laboratories in the U.S. and U.K., Orchid Cellmark provides DNA testing services for both governmental agency and private customers to determine the parentage of a child and other familial relationships. Over the last two decades, Orchid Cellmark has analyzed millions of samples.

Orchid Cellmark is a market leader for publicly funded paternity testing in North America and in the U.K., with a reputation for quality and service. Orchid Cellmark is also aiming to increase its market share in the U.S. private paternity sector, a segment that is growing rapidly and has very attractive margins. To this end, Orchid Cellmark is implementing a number of innovative programs, including establishing a network of brokers and marketing partners who work with clinical professionals, family law attorneys and other professionals, to help build its presence in this area.

Orchid Cellmark offers competitive pricing and rapid turn around time, with results available as soon as the next business day. Child Support Enforcement data show that child support payments totaled approximately $20 billion in fiscal year 2002. With the number of paternity tests being done increasing each year, the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) estimates the U.S. paternity market to grow to more than $100 million by 2005. Orchid Cellmark is the first laboratory to receive approval from the AABB to use single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as stand-alone genetic markers in its paternity and family relationship testing operations.

Building on its paternity testing business, Orchid Cellmark is expanding its DNA testing activities to establish family relationships. Orchid Cellmark is pursuing the increasing global opportunities for immigration DNA testing, and it is currently providing DNA testing to the U.K. and Norway to confirm the identity of individuals emigrating to those countries. Additionally, Orchid Cellmark was selected by the Guatemalan government to confirm the identity of Guatemalan children being adopted by foreign nationals to prevent the illegal trafficking of children. Guatemala is the third largest source of international adoptions, following China and Russia.

In 2004, Orchid Cellmark entered into the security arena with the launch of its IDSecure™ service designed to ensure that workers on high-risk assignments can be accurately identified in the event of an emergency or accident. The IDSecure service allows companies to offer employees the opportunity to store unique genetic identifiers in a confidential and safe setting for use only in the event that their identity cannot be verified by other means. Orchid Cellmark has already partnered with another services firm to provide IDSecure to a major employer of workers on overseas assignment.

More information on Orchid Cellmark's U.S. family relationship and security DNA testing services can be found and www.1800DNAtest.com. U.S. Child Support Agencies can find more information on Orchid Cellmark's family relationship DNA testing services at www.orchidgenescreen.com.

More information on Orchid's Cellmark's European family relationship DNA testing services can be found at www.orchideurope.com.