Hilden, Germany, and Germantown, Maryland, November 13, 2017 – QIAGEN N.V. (NASDAQ: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced the 2,000th placement of QIAsymphony, the leading Sample to Insight workflow automation solution for molecular laboratories worldwide. The milestone means QIAGEN has already exceeded its year-end 2017 goal of exceeding 2,000 cumulative placements. The rapid dissemination of QIAsymphony systems, as well as the increasing menu and new capabilities, are fueling double-digit growth in sales of the systems’ related consumables.
QIAGEN is in the process of delivering the 2,000th QIAsymphony system to Caris Life Sciences®, a leading U.S.-based global provider of molecular testing services that enables the delivery of precision medicine for cancer and other complex diseases. Caris will be recognized at a special QIAGEN sponsored ceremony during the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) 2017 Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, which runs from November 14-16. The AMP meeting will also feature scientific presentations involving QIAsymphony workflows, and QIAGEN will exhibit the system in Booth 707 at the meeting.
David Spetzler, M.S., Ph.D., M.B.A., President and Chief Scientific Officer of Caris Life Sciences, said: “We are excited to add the QIAsymphony system to our suite of advanced, incredibly sophisticated technologies. We plan to use the system to automate the extraction of high-quality circulating cell-free DNA from liquid biopsy samples and prepare for next-generation sequencing analysis. We anticipate that this operational improvement will help us further optimize several laboratory functions and improve our ability to return important results back to the treating physician much quicker.”
“QIAsymphony is a remarkable success story since its launch less than seven years ago. As powerful, highly flexible yet easy-to-use system, QIAsymphony has shaped a new era of integrated molecular testing and laboratory automation while enabling breakthroughs in science and valuable insights in molecular diagnostics for customers around the world,” said Peer M. Schatz, Chief Executive Officer of QIAGEN N.V. “QIAsymphony is an essential element of our momentum in 2017, and helps set the stage for ongoing growth of our Sample to Insight portfolio. QIAsymphony has found use with customers around the world as an integrated Sample to Insight solution for molecular testing, particularly in virology and with a very strong presence outside the United States. We have also created a market leading position for QIAsymphony as a sample processing unit for any downstream molecular testing technology, including NGS. Our customers like Caris rely on QIAsymphony for their needs in clinical and research settings and have adopted it for many applications, including liquid biopsy where QIAGEN is the leader. This milestone of 2,000 cumulative placements represents is a great milestone for QIAsymphony and further placements.”
QIAsymphony has the broadest test menu of any platform in its category in Europe and other markets and at the same time offers the unique ability to handle laboratory-developed tests. 29 diagnostic tests in infectious disease, oncology and transplant care are marketed around the world for use on the Rotor-Gene® Q, a component of the integrated QIAsymphony workflow. In the United States, eight FDA-approved/cleared diagnostic tests, including three companion diagnostics to guide treatment decisions in cancer, are currently marketed for this detection platform. In the second half of 2017, submissions have been initiated for five new test kits to add value for customers of the QIAsymphony family of instruments, with approvals expected in 2018.
The emergence of NGS has highlighted the critical need of laboratories for reliable, automated sample processing for higher-throughput sequencing needs. QIAsymphony SP, the sample processing module of the QIAsymphony system, is considered the solution of choice by labs to automate the processing of nucleic acids for analysis with QIAGEN’s GeneReader NGS System or other sequencers.
QIAsymphony is an innovative, cost-effective modular system that integrates a laboratory’s PCR workflow from initial biological sample processing to final insights. Three modules make up the complete system: QIAsymphony SP for efficient sample processing, with continuous loading and gold standard protocols to process and purify samples; QIAsymphony AS, enabling safe and reproducible assay setup with multiple assays per run or sample; and Rotor-Gene Q, the world’s first rotary real-time PCR cycler system, to make DNA and RNA sequences visible and quantifiable. QIAsymphony integrates with bioinformatics software for analysis and interpretation, as well as with Laboratory Information Management Systems.
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 (forensics, veterinary testing and food safety), Pharma (pharma and biotech companies) and Academia (life sciences research). As of September 30, 2017, QIAGEN employed approximately 4,600 people in over 35 locations worldwide. Further information can be found at http://www.qiagen.com.
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, collaborations markets, strategy or operating results, including without limitation its expected adjusted net sales and adjusted diluted earnings 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. 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).