QIAGEN to Supply Molecular Screening Solutions to Increase Safety of Blood Donations in Brazil
May 28 2009 - 1:00AM
Business Wire
QIAGEN (NASDAQ: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today
announced that it has entered into an agreement to supply molecular
sample and assay technologies for a new national, PCR-based blood
screening program for HIV and Hepatitis C (HCV) in Brazil. QIAGEN
will provide Bio-Manguinhos, the main provider of vaccines and
diagnostics to the Brazilian Ministry of Health, with a significant
volume of molecular testing solutions � sample and assay
technologies, related instrumentation, operational know-how and
training. Following the approval by the Brazilian patent
authorities, the agreement will run for five years and contains
options for subsequent extensions.
Brazil�s new national screening program is scheduled to start in
2010. It marks the largest initiative in the country�s history of
blood donations safety. Every year, five million blood donations
are performed in Brazil (with a population of 190 million South
America�s largest country), of which 70% are conducted by public
blood banks. Approximately 0.1% and 0.3% of these donations are
tested positive for HIV and HCV, respectively. Since most of these
tests are performed with older, less sensitive serological methods,
experts believe that the actual number of positive cases could be
higher than officially reported. The new program marks the effort
to complement these traditional, immunodiagnostic tests with
nucleic-acid-based, molecular assays that are considered
significantly more sensitive in detecting infection. They help
close the �diagnostic window� between the time of an infection and
laboratory diagnosis by enabling faster treatment and reducing the
ability of an infection to spread � thereby further increasing the
safety of the blood supply.
�Nucleic-acid testing is the premium public health option to
help prevent often transfusion-transmitted diseases such as AIDS or
Hepatitis C�, said Dr. Akira Homma, Director of Bio-Manguinhos.
�Furthermore, the increased quality of screened blood from
donations will also allow the public health system to gain high
quality and safer plasma products in sufficient volumes. Therefore,
the new screening program will also reduce the country�s demand for
costly imports of plasma products which are needed to treat
patients suffering from Hemophilia and other blood disorders.�
For QIAGEN, this contract marks another, significant step in its
expansion into the emerging Latin and South American markets. This
expansion reflects the company�s efforts to supply integrated
molecular testing solutions for the improvement of health and
living conditions in the region. In October 2008, QIAGEN and the
Mexican Public Health Agency SSA signed an agreement for the supply
of sample and assay technologies to be used in a national screening
program for Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the primary cause of
cervical cancer.
�Molecular diagnostic methods are key to making blood donations
safer, and it is our goal to make these life saving technologies
available to governments and their people throughout the world�,
said Peer M. Schatz, CEO of QIAGEN. �We are proud to team up with
the Brazilian authorities in a combined effort to significantly
reduce the number of blood-borne transmissions of HIV and HCV and
the resulting disease burden.� QIAGEN expects to launch further
collaborations on screening programs with governments in emerging
countries in the future. The company offers a wide range of
technology and branding options for such programs.
Under the terms of this agreement, QIAGEN�s extraction and
testing components will be included in the screening kits and sold
in a format featuring Bio-Manguinhos�s name and branding. The kits
will run on a high-throughput multiplex PCR platform which allows
processing of large numbers of samples and detecting multiple
pathogens in one single run. The highly automated platform � which
includes an advanced control system based on biosafe viruses
developed and patented by Bio-Manguinhos � has demonstrated
excellent screening results in the field test. The partnership
between QIAGEN and Bio-Manguinhos also involves technical advice
for implementation of the production of enzymes and buffers in
Brazil, but excludes the delivery of primers and probes. These
integral test components, essentially needed to make virus
sequences visible, are developed and provided by
Bio-Manguinhos.
About Bio-Manguinhos
Bio-Manguinhos is a technical-scientific unit of the Oswaldo
Cruz Foundation and one of the official laboratories of the
Ministry of Health. Their activities are focused on responding to
the government health programs. The institute operates
strategically along with the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS),
supporting the disease prevention policies, epidemiological,
sanitary and controlling surveillance, through research,
development and technological innovation in the immunobiological
area. Bio-Manguinhos employs a staff of around 1,150 and is
headquartered in Rio de Janeiro.
About QIAGEN:
QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands holding company, is the
leading�global�provider of sample and assay technologies. Sample
technologies are used�to isolate and process DNA, RNA and proteins
from biological samples such as blood or tissue.�Assay technologies
are used to make such isolated biomolecules visible. QIAGEN has
developed and markets more than 500 sample and assay products as
well as automated solutions for such consumables.�The
company�provides its products to molecular diagnostics
laboratories, academic researchers, pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies, and applied testing�customers for
purposes�such as forensics, animal or food testing and
pharmaceutical process control.�QIAGEN's assay technologies include
one of the broadest panels of molecular diagnostic tests available
worldwide. This panel includes the digene HPV Test, which is
regarded as the "gold standard" in testing for high-risk types of
human papillomavirus (HPV), the primary cause of cervical cancer.
QIAGEN employs more than 3,100 people in over 30 locations
worldwide. Further information about QIAGEN can be found at
http://www.qiagen.com/.
Statements contained in this release that are not historical
facts are forward-looking statements, including statements about
our products, markets, strategy and operating results. Such
statements are based on current expectations that involve risks and
uncertainties including, but not limited to, those associated with:
management of growth and international operations (including
currency fluctuations and logistics), variability of our operating
results, commercial development of our markets (including applied
testing, clinical and academic research, proteomics, women�s
health/HPV testing and molecular diagnostics), our relationships
with customers, suppliers and strategic partners, competition,
changes in technology, fluctuations in demand, regulatory
requirements, identifying, developing and producing integrated
products differentiated from our competitors' products, market
acceptance of our products, and integration of acquired
technologies and businesses. For further information, refer to our
filings with the SEC, including our latest Form 20-F. Information
in this release is as of the date of the release, and we undertake
no duty to update this information unless required by law.
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