Germantown, Maryland, and Venlo, the Netherlands, March 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QIAGEN (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced a partnership with the International Panel Physicians Association (IPPA) to support and educate panel physicians around the globe on the latest tuberculosis (TB) screening requirements. A special focus will be on the new Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA) requirements and the associated benefits for patients and healthcare providers.
This collaboration follows the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updating its guidelines for new TB screening requirements for immigrants to the United States. Together, QIAGEN and IPPA are committed to promoting the use of IGRA testing, such as QIAGEN's QuantiFERON-TB Plus, to ensure a safe immigration process and support the global fight against TB. IPPA is a U.S.-based non-profit organization of physicians who are authorized to conduct immigration medical evaluations by governments of countries that receive migrants, including the U.S., Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
"Our collaboration with IPPA enables us to raise awareness about the benefits of IGRA testing and support the U.S. national strategy to eliminate TB domestically by 2050. This partnership will lead to better detection of latent TB infection before departure for the United States and help identify immigrants who would benefit from preventive treatment," said Fernando Beils, Senior Vice President and Head of the Molecular Diagnostics business area at QIAGEN.
Alexandra Ortega, MPH, MCHES, Executive Director of the IPPA, said, "Working together with QIAGEN allows us to educate panel physicians on the latest TB screening requirements, ensuring patients receive the most accurate and efficient testing available. This partnership will play a crucial role in global efforts to combat TB."
The updated CDC guidelines now mandate that by October 1, 2024, all individuals aged above 2 years old from countries with a WHO-estimated TB incidence rate of more than 20 cases per 100,000 people will require an IGRA test as part of their U.S. immigrant visa medical exam, expanding from the previous requirement covering only children age 2 to 14.
Additionally, in anticipation of World TB Day, QIAGEN is hosting a global CPD-accredited event on March 21, 2024, with top TB experts discussing the vital theme of "TB infection screening and preventive therapy for achieving End TB strategy goals". The program will explore the global TB landscape, advances in testing and prevention, and screening of migrants. A panel discussion will address TB epidemiology, cost-effectiveness, and challenges faced by high-risk groups like migrants and children.
Tuberculosis is a contagious bacterial infection spread primarily by coughing of patients with the active pulmonary form of the disease. The WHO estimated that there were more than 10 million new cases of active TB worldwide and 1.3 million deaths in 2022. One in four people worldwide are believed to have latent TB infections, with 5-10% of them expected at some point to develop active TB. Screening for latent TB infection is therefore essential in the effort to end 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 to combat the global TB epidemic.
For more information and to register for this event, please visit https://www.qiagen.com/us/applications/tb-management/events/world-tb-day
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 December 31, 2023, QIAGEN employed approximately 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, 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" 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.
Source: QIAGEN N.V.
Category: Corporate
