QIAGEN Reaches Milestone With Portfolio of Master Collaboration Agreements for Pharma Companion Diagnostics

GERMANTOWN, Maryland and HILDEN, Germany, January 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

QIAGEN N.V. QGEN today announced it had reached a milestone in its portfolio of master collaboration agreements with leading pharmaceutical companies and a record number of new projects in 2015 for the co-development of companion diagnostics.

Among the record number of new projects was the start of a master collaboration agreement with Array BioPharma ARRY, which became the 15^th pharma partner to work with QIAGEN on these comprehensive agreements that cover multiple projects.

An initial project with Array will be to develop and commercialize a QIAGEN molecular diagnostic test paired with binimetinib, a novel MEK inhibitor currently in Phase III clinical trials for use in patients with NRAS-mutant melanoma. This companion diagnostic test will run on the Rotor-Gene Q MDx, a PCR platform that is a member of the modular QIAsymphony family of automation solutions.

"We are very pleased to partner with Array BioPharma to develop companion diagnostics for their targeted therapies. The fact that so many pharma and biotech companies have joined with QIAGEN for these co-development projects, including five based on using our innovative liquid biopsy Sample Technologies to gain molecular insights from blood, underscores the trust in our Sample to Insight solutions," said Peer M. Schatz, Chief Executive Officer of QIAGEN. "This collaboration holds the promise to improve outcomes for cancer patients, involving the full range of QIAGEN platforms, in particular the GeneReader NGS System that was launched in late 2015 as the first truly complete workflow using next-generation sequencing."

QIAGEN is at the forefront in developing companion diagnostics using genomic insights to guide the selection of medicines for cancer and other diseases. The company already markets Personalized Healthcare kits covering about 30 biomarkers, spanning a variety of automation platforms and biological sample types. QIAGEN continues to expand its pipeline of Sample to Insight technologies for personalized healthcare and intends to submit more tests for regulatory clearance or approval. Numerous co-development partnerships are underway with leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies, some publicly disclosed but most not individually announced.

About QIAGEN 

QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands-based holding company, is the leading global provider of Sample to Insight solutions to transform biological materials into valuable molecular insights. QIAGEN 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 molecular testing workflows. QIAGEN provides these workflows to more than 500,000 customers around the world in Molecular Diagnostics (human healthcare), Applied Testing (forensics, veterinary testing and food safety), Pharma (pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies) and Academia (life sciences research). As of September 30, 2015, QIAGEN employed approximately 4,500 people in over 35 locations worldwide. Further information can be found at http://www.qiagen.com.

Certain of the statements contained in this news 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, markets, strategy or operating results, including without limitation its expected operating 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 in applied testing, personalized healthcare, clinical research, proteomics, women's health/HPV testing and nucleic acid-based 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, the consummation of acquisitions, 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).

Contacts:

QIAGEN
Investor Relations
John Gilardi
+49-2103-29-11711
e-mail: ir@QIAGEN.com

Public Relations
Dr. Thomas Theuringer
+49-2103-29-11826
e-mail: pr@QIAGEN.com

SOURCE QIAGEN N.V.