GERMANTOWN, Maryland, and HILDEN, Germany, April 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

QIAGEN N.V. (NASDAQ: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced that Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) has extended its portfolio of laboratory offerings to select U.S. hospitals to include QIAGEN automated laboratory systems and test kits for molecular diagnostics.

Cardinal Health, a leading health care services company, will distribute QIAGEN's molecular diagnostics products to small and mid-sized hospitals in the U.S. that were previously not covered by QIAGEN's own sales channels. According to the American Hospital Association, there are approximately 5,000 community hospitals in the U.S. To date, only about 10% of U.S. hospitals perform molecular diagnostics, but this share is expected to grow significantly providing substantial opportunities for growth. This collaboration is expected to create critical mass in distribution of molecular diagnostics to this market segment, thereby supporting the adoption of in-house molecular diagnostic testing among smaller U.S. hospitals. In general, molecular diagnostic tests can assist healthcare providers in detecting and profiling infectious diseases, cancers and patients' genomic characteristics as a guide in treatment decisions. QIAGEN will support Cardinal Health customers with application and technical support resources.

"Cardinal Health is a highly respected health care services company and will be an excellent partner in offering hospitals the benefits of QIAGEN's molecular technologies and systems for efficient laboratory workflow," said Bernd Uder, Senior Vice President Global Sales of QIAGEN. "Many community hospitals seek to add molecular diagnostics to their patient care. However, the molecular diagnostics purchases of each community hospital are relatively small. Due to the large number and geographic dispersion of smaller hospitals, providing adequate coverage requires substantial critical mass in distribution resources. We are very excited about this relationship with Cardinal Health, as we expect to create access to QIAGEN products for hospitals of all sizes, where before they were primarily available to large hospitals and reference laboratories."

Subject to regulatory approval in individual countries, QIAGEN's global product offering for clinical laboratories addresses all application areas in molecular diagnostics from screening of asymptomatic patients to enable early treatment of diseases (Prevention), through testing of symptomatic patients to create a diagnosis (Profiling) and biomarker testing to guide treatment decisions (Personalized Healthcare), to rapid testing of patients without access to a laboratory infrastructure (Point of Need). This portfolio includes instruments to automate entire workflows from initial sample processing to the final result, as well as consumables that allow laboratories to run standardized or lab-developed tests. Molecular diagnostic products available in the U.S. include the Rotor-Gene Q MDx detection platform, which has been recently 510(k) cleared for in-vitro diagnostic use with a compatible artus Influenza A/B assay. Going forward, QIAGEN intends to obtain US FDA regulatory clearances and approvals for the entire modular QIAsymphony RGQ lab automation system, including the Rotor Gene Q series instruments, as well as a broad pipeline of corresponding tests currently under development.

"We know that there's an increased desire among health care providers for cost-effective diagnostic tools that will facilitate better patient care," said Chris Kerski, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Scientific Products at Cardinal Health. "We're pleased to be able to work with QIAGEN to offer our customers the solutions they're seeking in this new and rapidly changing market."

About QIAGEN:

QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands holding company, is the leading global provider of Sample & Assay Technologies that are used to transform biological materials into valuable molecular information. Sample technologies are used to isolate and process DNA, RNA and proteins from biological samples such as blood or tissue. Assay technologies are then used to make these isolated biomolecules visible and ready for interpretation. QIAGEN markets more than 500 products around the world, selling both consumable kits and automation systems to customers through four customer classes: Molecular Diagnostics (human healthcare), Applied Testing (forensics, veterinary testing and food safety), Pharma (pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies) and Academia (life sciences research). As of March 31, 2012, QIAGEN employed approximately 3,900 people in over 35 locations worldwide. Further information can be found at http://www.qiagen.com/.

About Cardinal Health:

Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) is a $103 billion health care services company that improves the cost-effectiveness of health care. As the business behind health care, Cardinal Health helps pharmacies, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and physician offices focus on patient care while reducing costs, enhancing efficiency and improving quality. Cardinal Health is an essential link in the health care supply chain, providing pharmaceuticals and medical products to more than 60,000 locations each day. The company is also a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products, including gloves, surgical apparel and fluid management products. In addition, the company supports the growing diagnostic industry by supplying medical products to clinical laboratories and operating the nation's largest network of radiopharmacies that dispense products to aid in the early diagnosis and treatment of disease. Ranked #19 on the Fortune 500, Cardinal Health employs more than 30,000 people worldwide. More information about the company may be found at cardinalhealth.com and @CardinalHealth on Twitter.

Safe-harbor statement QIAGEN:

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:

Public Relations:
Dr. Thomas Theuringer
Director Public Relations
+49-2103-29-11826
+1-240-686-7425

Email: pr@qiagen.com

http://www.twitter.com/qiagen
http://www.qiagen.com/about/press

Investor Relations:
John Gilardi
VP Corporate Communications
+49-2103-29-11711
+1-301-240-686-2222

Albert F. Fleury
Investor Relations North America
+1-301-944-7028

Email: ir@qiagen.com
http://www.qiagen.com/about/investorrelation

SOURCE QIAGEN N.V.