AlphaBiolabs has begun exporting to 16 countries across six continents as overseas sales surge following the launch of prenatal paternity testing at its laboratory in Warrington.

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 between 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.

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.