QIAGEN makes proposal to acquire Australian diagnostics company Cellestis Limited

04-Apr-2011 - Australia

Qiagen N.V. has reached an agreement to acquire Cellestis Limited for approximately A$341 million (US$355 million) in cash, providing QIAGEN with access to a novel “pre-molecular” technology that offers a new dimension in disease detection not currently possible with other diagnostic methods.

The acquisition of Cellestis, a publicly listed, profitable company headquartered in Australia, will provide QIAGEN with exclusive rights to QuantiFERON® technology, a proprietary approach for disease detection and monitoring.

Cellestis has successfully commercialized this technology with QuantiFERON®-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT), a leading test for latent tuberculosis (TB), and is in the early stages of commercializing QuantiFERON®-CMV for monitoring of disease risk from the life-threatening cytomegalovirus (CMV). These tests are approved and commercialized in various countries and are believed to have significant untapped market potential.

QuantiFERON® is a patent-protected platform technology that can provide information on diseases far earlier than possible with other diagnostic methods. QuantiFERON® tests whole blood samples for the presence of systemically amplified molecular analytes which provide information from the immune system’s memory.

Based on its ability to provide diagnostic information far earlier than DNA-based molecular tests, QuantiFERON® is considered a “pre-molecular” testing technology. As a result, tests based on QuantiFERON® can even provide critical information on latent infections, where pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi) are present in such low amounts that they are not detectable with traditional DNA-based molecular diagnostics.

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Diagnostics is at the heart of modern medicine and forms a crucial interface between research and patient care in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. It not only enables early detection and monitoring of disease, but also plays a central role in individualized medicine by enabling targeted therapies based on an individual's genetic and molecular signature.

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Topic world Diagnostics

Diagnostics is at the heart of modern medicine and forms a crucial interface between research and patient care in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. It not only enables early detection and monitoring of disease, but also plays a central role in individualized medicine by enabling targeted therapies based on an individual's genetic and molecular signature.

10+ products
4 whitepaper
10+ brochures