Illumina licenses Orchid Cellmark DNA technology

Denise Gellene10/13/09

San Diego’s Illumina (NASDAQ: [[ticker: ILMN]]) has licensed worldwide rights to commercially develop Orchid Cellmark’s proprietary single base nucleotide extension technology for forensics and diagnostics. Princeton, N.J.-based Orchid (NASDAQ: ORCH) is one of the largest providers of forensic DNA testing services used by the criminal justice system. Orchid says Illumina agreed to pay $850,000 upfront and up to $150,000 in milestone payments. Although Orchid retains the right to use its patents, Illumina received exclusive rights to sublicense the technology. Orchid will receive royalties on any such deals.

Denise Gellene is a former Los Angeles Times science writer and regular contributor to Xconomy. You can reach her at dgellene@xconomy.com