Venlo, the Netherlands, Muscat, Oman, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QIAGEN (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced a significant expansion of its business in the Middle East region, which includes three major developments: 

• In early 2024, QIAGEN will open its regional headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in order to further strengthen its commercial footprint in the region.
• It has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia, addressing various public health and infection control initiatives.
• QIAGEN has been awarded a tender through its Commercial Partner Taiba Medserv LLC from the Ministry of Health of the Sultanate of Oman to provide the country with QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus tests for its nationwide tuberculosis (TB) screening program.

“At QIAGEN, we believe that improving healthcare outcomes starts with a strong foundation of collaboration and innovation, and we are excited to play a crucial role in advancing health and well-being throughout the Middle East. We are proud to contribute to the global efforts to end TB and other serious health threats. Our new regional headquarters in Riyadh will enable us to better serve our customers and foster strong partnerships with local stakeholders,” said Simona Grandits, Senior Director, Head of Sales and Marketing EEMEA at QIAGEN.

Saudi Arabia: New regional headquarters and Memorandum of Understanding with Ministry of Health

To accommodate its growing regional presence and customer needs, QIAGEN will inaugurate its new regional headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the beginning of 2024. This office will further strengthen the company’s commitment to the Middle East and improve its ability to serve clients in the area.
QIAGEN has recently signed an MoU with the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia that covers various public health and infection control initiatives and aligns with the Health Sector Transformation Program of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. The MoU includes:

• Establishing a localized data center by QIAGEN Digital Insights (QDI) to support advanced bioinformatics within the country, ensuring data protection, and robust service while complying with national legislation. The data center will enable in-country molecular data analysis without information leaving the country and provide localized access to QIAGEN Clinical Insight (QCI) Interpret. QCI Interpret assists in interpreting and reporting genomic variants from next-generation sequencing data, facilitating precision medicine. With expertise in installing essential infrastructure, including bioinformatics servers, QDI currently operates seven data centers worldwide.
• Assisting the Ministry in eliminating meningitis per the World Health Organization (WHO) program using QIAGEN’s syndromic testing platform QIAstat-Dx.
• Supporting the implementation of a prevention screening program for cervical cancer under the WHO elimination initiative by 2030, supplying the country with HPV tests.
• Developing a national latent TB screening program using QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus.

Oman: Supporting nationwide tuberculosis screening program

QIAGEN, through its Commercial Partner Taiba Medserv LLC, will provide hundreds of thousands of QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus assays to Oman’s new program, which aims to test for latent tuberculosis (TB) in expatriates applying for residency in the Gulf state starting in early 2024.  As a country with a low incidence of TB and a large workforce from high-incidence countries, Oman is expanding its TB testing policy for residency applicants by adding systematic screening for latent TB infection using QIAGEN’s simple standard-setting QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus blood test. The Ministry of Health plans to test up to 800,000 people over two years and offer direct medical treatment to those found carrying TB bacteria without symptoms.

Screening for latent TB infections is vital in the effort to end TB, a disease that claims over a million lives each year. One in four people across the globe are thought to have latent TB infections, with 5-10% of them expected at some point to develop active TB.

QIAGEN’s QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus assay accurately detects TB infection by identifying interferon-gamma released by T-cells in response to TB-specific antigens. This one-visit test outperforms the century-old, two-visit TB skin test (TST), particularly for patients from high-TB-burden countries who have received BCG vaccination. The CDC and WHO endorse the use of QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus in all settings to combat the global TB epidemic.

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) and Life Sciences (academia, pharma R&D and industrial applications, primarily forensics). As of September 30, 2023, QIAGEN employed more than 6,000 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, including those products used in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, timing for launch and development, marketing and/or regulatory approvals, financial and operational outlook, growth and expansion, 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; actions of governments, global or regional economic developments, weather or transportation delays, natural disasters, political or public health crises, including the breadth and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the demand for our products and other aspects of our business, or other force majeure events; as well as the possibility that expected benefits related to recent or pending acquisitions may not materialize as expected; 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.