Venlo, the Netherlands, June 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QIAGEN (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced the launch of 35 new wet-lab tested digital PCR Microbial DNA Detection Assays for its digital PCR (dPCR) platform QIAcuity, significantly enhancing its offerings in the field of microbial research. The new assays are available on QIAGEN’s comprehensive research platform GeneGlobe and are designed to target a wide range of pathogens responsible for tropical diseases, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and urinary tract infections (UTIs), further solidifying QIAGEN's position as a leader in microbial detection and analysis.

The expansion introduces assays for critical pathogens including Dengue virus Serotype 1 to 4, Monkeypox clade I and II, Chikungunya as well as pathogens causing other tropical diseases such as Malaria and various STIs and UTIs. This addition brings QIAGEN's total microbial dPCR assay portfolio to over 680 targets, encompassing bacterial, fungal, parasitic and viral pathogens as well as genes associated with antibiotic resistance or virulence factors. These assays are part of a broader expansion plan of QIAGEN’s wet-lab-tested dPCR assay portfolio on GeneGlobe. Later in 2024, new dPCR LNA (locked nucleic acid) Mutation Assays and dPCR CNV (copy number variation) Probe assays will be made available, adding at least 100 dPCR assays in total throughout the year.

“Through this significant expansion of our digital PCR assay offerings, we are addressing the pressing research needs and feedback from our customers,” said Nitin Sood, Senior Vice President, Head of the Life Sciences Business Area at QIAGEN. “Digital PCR is proving to be a valuable tool in the fight against microbial pathogens, offering high sensitivity and precise quantification. Our aim is to enable research laboratories around the world to achieve more accurate and sensitive detection of microbial DNA, advancing our understanding and control of infectious diseases.”

QIAGEN’s newly launched digital PCR Microbial DNA Detection Assays can be a timely response to public health crises like infectious disease outbreaks as they enable the precise and sensitive detection of pathogens, facilitating prompt intervention measures and monitoring of the disease spread. This can finally improve patient outcomes and underlines the essential role of microbial research in tackling health threats.

QIAGEN's QIAcuity digital PCR platform utilizes nanoplates to disperse a sample into thousands of tiny partitions and then reads the reaction in each one simultaneously to quantify even the faintest signals from DNA and RNA, enabling the sensitive and specific detection of even the smallest copy number changes in DNA and RNA, up to 5-plex. The system integrates partitioning, thermocycling, and imaging into a streamlined workflow, reducing processing times from six hours to just two. Available in one, four, and eight-plate versions, the QIAcuity platform is designed to meet the needs of a wide range of laboratory sizes and throughput requirements.

QIAGEN will showcase its expanded digital PCR Microbial DNA Detection Assays and the QIAcuity platform at the upcoming ASM Microbe conference from June 13–17 in Atlanta, Georgia, at booth 1401. Attendees will have the opportunity to experience QIAGEN's comprehensive offerings for microbial research, surveillance, and diagnostics, including a broad range of panels and kits for multiple applications as well as instruments such as the EZ2 Connect, TissueLyser III, QIAcube Connect, QIAstat-Dx, and QIAstat-Dx Rise. A QIAGEN Digital Insights Demo station will also be available.

In addition to the product showcase, QIAGEN will present a poster on “Improved Extraction of Total Nucleic Acid from Microbiome Samples”. This research highlights advancements in the extraction of DNA and RNA from human microbiome samples, focusing on methods that remove inhibitors and yield higher quality and quantity of nucleic acids. The findings underscore the importance of mechanical lysis using bead beating for efficient, unbiased extraction suitable for automation and standardization across laboratories.

On Friday, June 16, QIAGEN, in collaboration with the Water Tower Institute and the Public Health Lab Tennessee, will host a spotlight session highlighting their joint efforts in precise and efficient Legionella monitoring across diverse sample types using dPCR on the QIAcuity platform. The session will provide a comprehensive overview of dPCR applications in microbe surveillance, featuring two compelling case studies demonstrating Legionella monitoring in health-critical environmental samples.

For more information about QIAGEN's digital PCR solutions and the new Microbial DNA Detection Assays, please click here.

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 March 31, 2024, QIAGEN employed more than 5,900 people in over 35 locations worldwide. Further information can be found at https://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, 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, 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” in 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.