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Orchid Selected by U.K. Metropolitan Police Service to Provide Forensic DNA Testing
Posted on: 09/03/
PRINCETON, N.J., and ABINGDON, Oxfordshire, U.K. -- Orchid BioSciences, Inc. today announced that its European Cellmark business has been selected by London's Metropolitan Police Service to provide scene-of-crime forensic DNA testing services. The three- year contract, extendable for an additional two years, was awarded through Orchid's strategic partner Forensic Alliance and is expected to generate the equivalent of several million dollars U.S. annually in revenue for Orchid. The Metropolitan Police Service, headquartered at New Scotland Yard, London, is the U.K.'s largest police force and is responsible for approximately 20 percent of all forensic testing in England and Wales.
"We are honored to be awarded this important contract with Forensic Alliance, which we believe is testament to our well-established reputation for innovation, quality and analytical excellence, as well as our commitment to deliver a swift, responsive service to assist in the rapid resolution of criminal cases," said Graham Vitty, managing director of Orchid BioSciences Europe.
Orchid Cellmark is the largest independent supplier of scene-of-crime DNA analysis to U.K. police forces, providing a full range of forensic DNA services from the routine analysis of DNA samples for submission to the National DNA Database to the analysis of evidence for the most serious crimes. This contract, which represents a significant proportion of the Metropolitan Police forensic DNA work, is the largest ever awarded to a private forensic laboratory in the U.K. Further details of the agreement were not disclosed.
"Award of this multi-year contract is a key milestone as we continue to build our DNA testing leadership in the U.K. and Europe," said Paul J. Kelly, MD, chief executive officer of Orchid BioSciences, Inc. "The U.K. is recognized globally as a leader in applying DNA analysis to solve crimes, and we are delighted that together with our partner Forensic Alliance we will now be working with the Metropolitan Police, the single largest U.K. consumer of forensic DNA services and an institution at the forefront of maximizing the value of forensic DNA analysis."
U.K. government funding for DNA analysis has increased significantly in recent years through its DNA Expansion Plan. Working with Forensic Alliance, Orchid Cellmark is increasing its forensic DNA business by focusing on quality while driving down processing time, and has recently expanded its U.K. headquarters in Abingdon to accommodate the rapid growth in its service businesses.
Based in Abingdon, U.K., Orchid BioSciences Europe is a leading provider of forensic DNA analysis, paternity and relationship testing, and agricultural genotyping services. It is one of the largest providers of paternity testing services in Europe and is a leading supplier of forensic DNA profiling for criminal investigation, a rapidly growing area in which the U.K. is a world leader. It is also the major supplier of genotyping services to the U.K. Government's National Scrapie Plan, delivering high throughput DNA testing services to help British farmers breed sheep with reduced susceptibility to this prion disease. Orchid established its European headquarters in through the acquisition of U.K.-based Cellmark Diagnostics, one of the world's first commercial DNA testing laboratories. Founded in , it was one of the first DNA testing laboratories in the world to be accredited to International Quality Standard ISO and ISO5.
Orchid BioSciences is the leading provider of identity genomics services for the forensic and paternity DNA testing markets and for public health DNA testing for food safety.
Source: Orchid BioSciences, Inc.
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