Germantown, Maryland, Hilden, Germany, and Reno, Nevada, July 30, 2018 – QIAGEN N.V. (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) and Hamilton Robotics, a privately held leader in automation and liquid handling technology, today announced a new collaboration to improve processing of QIAGEN’s QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus) diagnostic test through the integration of Hamilton’s Microlab® STAR™ automated liquid handling workstation into the QFT-Plus assay workflow. QIAGEN’s fourth-generation QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus is the modern gold standard for latent tuberculosis (TB) detection.
QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus offers customers the most flexible workflow among TB screening tests, including a single-tube option that enables efficient screening in large-scale programs by collecting blood samples at patient sites and transporting them to labs for processing up to 53 hours after venipuncture. Use of the Microlab STAR workstation will standardize and automate the manual steps in liquid handling for those samples, which can reduce hands-on time by 50% or more, provide greater ease of use and ensure consistency in pre-analytic methods, reducing processing errors and variability between runs.
“We are pleased to collaborate with Hamilton, a proven leader with a track record of providing best-in-class liquid handling technology solutions, to further improve the automation of our QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus test for customers,” said Thierry Bernard, Senior Vice President, Head of the Molecular Diagnostics Business Area at QIAGEN N.V. “This integrated workflow, which has potential to be rolled out globally, should significantly improve laboratories’ economics and ease of use for the QuantiFERON-TB technology, especially in clinical markets that increasingly rely on the single-tube collection version of the test.”
Michael Mouradian, Director of Robotics at Hamilton Robotics added, “Our collaboration with QIAGEN puts the clinician and patient at center stage when it comes to tuberculosis testing. With this hands-free automated workflow, everyone can be confident that the next steps in patient care are based on highly accurate and timely results.”
In August 2018 the Microlab STAR workstation will become available to QFT-Plus customers, featuring protocols for automated liquid decapping, pipetting and tube recapping of submitted whole blood samples. Introduction of the integrated QFT-Plus workflow is planned first for customers in North America and Japan, with potential expansion to other geographic regions.
This new collaboration complements QIAGEN’s partnership with DiaSorin (FTSE Italy Mid Cap: DIA), which was announced in January 2018, to add QFT-Plus to the menu of DiaSorin’s LIAISON family of fully automated analyzers. Laboratories using QFT-Plus will have access to a fully automated, flexible workflow on LIAISON-family analyzers in addition to the currently available workflow solutions that are used after the pre-analytical workflow processing and sample incubation period. DiaSorin and QIAGEN plan to launch a CE-marked version of the new QuantiFERON readout components for use on LIAISON XL in the third quarter of 2018, while the U.S. availability is planned for 2019. The companies expect to launch the new test in China in 2020.
QFT-Plus builds on the foundation of QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT), the third-generation version of the world’s leading interferon gamma release assay (IGRA), and is being rolled out worldwide amid new recommendations that are broadening the use of IGRAs in the U.S. and other countries.
About Hamilton Robotics
Hamilton Robotics, an affiliate of Hamilton Company, is a leading global manufacturer providing automated liquid handling workstations and laboratory automation technology to the scientific community. With a focus on innovative design, Hamilton products incorporate patented liquid handling technologies into a portfolio that includes liquid handling platforms, standard application-based solutions, small devices, consumables, and OEM liquid handling solutions. Known for advancing life science, clinical diagnostics, forensics and biotechnology industries, Hamilton products offer reliability, performance and flexibility. Ensuring a continuous commitment to quality, Hamilton utilizes state-of-the-art manufacturing at production facilities in Reno, Nevada, and Bonaduz, Switzerland, and has earned a global ISO 9001 certification. Privately held, Hamilton maintains headquarters in Reno, Nevada; Franklin, Massachusetts; and Bonaduz, Switzerland, along with subsidiary offices throughout the world. www.hamiltoncompany.com/robotics
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).