Hilden, Germany, and Germantown, Maryland, July 30, 2018 – QIAGEN N.V. (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced that QuantiFERON-TB® Gold Plus (QFT-Plus), the gold standard in accurate, cost-effective testing for latent tuberculosis (TB) infection, has been adopted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for use in screening migrants for the infection.
As the United Nations migration agency, IOM coordinates comprehensive healthcare for about 20 million migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers around the world. The IOM tender covers use of QFT-Plus in 16 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East facing public health challenges from TB as part of their 5-year Global Plan to End TB 2016-2020.
QIAGEN is collaborating with governments and international institutions, non-governmental organizations and commercial partners in fighting the global epidemic of tuberculosis. Experts around the world are increasingly recognizing that accurate, laboratory-based screening for latent TB infections – which can progress to active, contagious tuberculosis – is essential to effective TB control. So far in 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) all have endorsed latent TB screening with interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) such as QIAGEN’s fourth-generation QFT-Plus and third-generation QuantiFERON-TB® Gold (QFT). Furthermore, the International Panel Physicians Association (IPPA) has endorsed QFT-Plus specifically.
“We are pleased that IOM, the UN’s migration agency, has selected QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus as the only blood test to be used in latent TB screening of displaced persons it serves. Migrants suffer disproportionately from tuberculosis, and accurate detection is critical to halting the global epidemic of this ancient disease,” said Thierry Bernard, Senior Vice President, Molecular Diagnostics Business Area, for QIAGEN. “QFT-Plus is unique among tests for latent TB, providing a more in-depth assessment of infection than previous generations of screening tools. We have an opportunity to stem the spread of TB by deploying the best modern diagnostic tools and following up with preventive treatment of patients.”
QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus is registered in more than 75 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Nearly two million QFT-Plus tests already have been used since the 2015 launch. QIAGEN’s QFT and QFT-Plus tests are the market-leading blood tests for latent TB, with faster, less labor-intensive and more accurate insights than the century-old tuberculin skin test. QFT-Plus also has the future potential to deliver increased clinical utility by adding measurement of CD8+ T-cell immune response to detection of CD4+ response. CD8+ T-cells have been shown to play an important role in the development of active TB, and QFT-Plus has been cited by international agencies for its potential benefit among migrants and other populations.
Tuberculosis is a contagious bacterial infection spread primarily through coughing by patients with the active pulmonary form of the disease. In 2016, there were 10.4 million new cases of active TB worldwide and 1.7 million deaths from TB, according to WHO estimates. In latent tuberculosis infection, the bacterium infects a person but produces no symptoms unless it progresses to active disease, at which stage the patient is highly contagious. As part of comprehensive programs to eradicate TB, WHO and other international organizations have expanded their guidelines for screening high-risk individuals and treating those with latent infection to help prevent further contagion and reduce the disease burden.
To learn more about QuantiFERON-TB tests and tuberculosis control, please visit www.quantiferon.com.
About QIAGEN
QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands-based holding company, is the leading global provider of Sample to Insight solutions that enable customers to gain valuable molecular insights from samples containing the building blocks of life. Our sample technologies isolate and process DNA, RNA and proteins from blood, tissue and other materials. Assay technologies make these biomolecules visible and ready for analysis. Bioinformatics software and knowledge bases interpret data to report relevant, actionable insights. Automation solutions tie these together in seamless and cost-effective workflows. QIAGEN provides solutions to more than 500,000 customers around the world in Molecular Diagnostics (human healthcare), Applied Testing (primarily forensics), Pharma (pharma and biotech companies) and Academia (life sciences research). As of March 31, 2018, QIAGEN employed approximately 4,700 people in over 35 locations worldwide. Further information can be found at http://www.qiagen.com.
Forward-Looking Statement
Certain statements contained in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. To the extent that any of the statements contained herein relating to QIAGEN’s products, launches, regulatory submissions, collaborations, markets, strategy, taxes or operating results, including without limitation its expected sales, adjusted net sales and adjusted diluted earnings per share results, are forward-looking, such statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that involve a number of uncertainties and risks. Such uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, risks associated with management of growth and international operations (including the effects of currency fluctuations, regulatory processes and dependence on logistics); variability of operating results and allocations between customer classes; the commercial development of markets for our products to customers in academia, pharma, applied testing and molecular diagnostics; changing relationships with customers, suppliers and strategic partners; competition; rapid or unexpected changes in technologies; fluctuations in demand for QIAGEN’s products (including fluctuations due to general economic conditions, the level and timing of customers’ funding, budgets and other factors); our ability to obtain regulatory approval of our products; difficulties in successfully adapting QIAGEN’s products to integrated solutions and producing such products; the ability of QIAGEN to identify and develop new products and to differentiate and protect our products from competitors’ products; market acceptance of QIAGEN’s new products and the integration of acquired technologies and businesses; and the other factors discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” contained in Item 3 of our most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F. For further information, please refer to the discussions in reports that QIAGEN has filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).