QIAGEN and Cardinal Health Collaborate to Offer Molecular Diagnostic Products to Smaller and Mid-Sized U.S. Hospitals

QIAGEN N.V. announced that Cardinal Health 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.”