In-house testing drives international growth for AlphaBiolabs
Press Release: 27th January 2020
The company has recruited business partners in North and South America, Africa, Asia and Australasia as well as Europe over the past six months.
Its success follows the in-house launch of non-invasive prenatal paternity testing last spring, when the company became the first lab in Europe to offer the service. The test determines paternity from as little as five weeks after conception.
The DNA of the adults is obtained via a blood sample from the mother and a mouth swab sample from the man. The unborn baby’s DNA is obtained from the mother’s bloodstream.
The samples are analysed using new-generation sequencing technology and instrumentation which amplifies the visibility of DNA segments for analysis.
This enables scientists at AlphaBiolabs to determine whether the unborn baby shares the man’s DNA.
If man is the child’s biological father, they will share identical sections of DNA at each marker. When the tested man is not the biological father, there will differences in his DNA and that of the unborn baby.
AlphaBiolabs invested £400,000 in additional equipment to conduct the tests in-house.
Since the service was introduced, AlphaBiolabs has signed up partners to sell its prenatal paternity test in 16 countries and many have opted to send all their relationship DNA lab testing to the company as well.
It has led to three new roles at AlphaBiolabs to support its international work and the company is currently recruiting for four more new positions. These include international account managers and laboratory analysts.
Managing director David Thomas said: “As a result of launching non-invasive prenatal paternity testing in-house, we have experienced increased revenue from exports and are continuing to expand the team to support this growth.
“We are one of only a few companies worldwide to offer this test and we are happy to be supporting our international partners with a rapid turnaround service at cost-effective prices from our award-winning lab.
“Following the launch, quite a number of our partners have decided to send a range of different samples for testing to take advantage of our next-day turnaround times, and we expect the growth of our international network to continue.
“This expansion, in particular beyond Europe, gives us the confidence that despite wider uncertainty relating to Brexit we will continue to thrive in new markets by pushing on with innovative additions to our range of services in the months and years ahead.”
In addition to its UK operations, AlphaBiolabs, which now has more than 60 staff, has offices in Dublin and in the United States. It is now providing testing services to customers in 47 US states, with sales growing month-on-month.
Notes to editors
AlphaBiolabs provides DNA, drug and alcohol testing services to a client base which includes members of the public, businesses, family and immigration law solicitors, social services, the media and universities. The company, founded in 2004, is based in Warrington, where it has one of the largest laboratories of its kind in Europe.
It was the first UKAS ISO 17025 accredited laboratory to introduce a next-day DNA testing service, which helped earn AlphaBiolabs a Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2016. The laboratory has also developed state-of-the-art techniques to provide an accurate historical record of drug or alcohol abuse. Hair strands, oral fluids, urine and fingernails can all be tested. It also offers continuous alcohol monitoring with its SCRAM CAM alcohol-testing bracelet.
AlphaBiolabs has walk-in centres in north and south London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle upon Tyne, Preston and Warrington.
Visit www.alphabiolabs.co.uk for more information.
The media contact for AlphaBiolabs is Alyssa James
Email: ajames@alphabiolabs.com or media@alphabiolabs.com
Phone: 01925 255450
