Qiagen, Eppendorf form alliance to develop, market complementary products

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, Jan. 5 - Qiagen NV and Eppendorf AG announced Thursday that they have formed a strategic alliance that includes co-development and co-marketing of complementary and optimized products.

The alliance is intended to link two of the strongest brands and product lines in the industry to ensure the highest compatibility of their products, targeting research, applied testing and molecular diagnostics, according to a company news release.

In addition, Qiagen said it has acquired Eppendorf's reagent business, which includes the Eppendorf "5-Prime" nucleic acid sample preparation and PCR reagent product lines and related intellectual property.

The acquired assets represent a portfolio of preanalytical and nucleic acid amplification consumables as well as a very promising pipeline of proprietary technologies for nucleic acid handling, separation, purification and amplification, officials said. The assets add to Qiagen's core strategic focus, the company said.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Qiagen said it expects the business to add $6 million in net sales in 2006 and $11 million in 2007 and be slightly dilutive to earnings per share based on net income, excluding acquisition and restructuring charges, by $0.01 per share in 2006 and accretive to earnings per share based on net income, excluding acquisition and restructuring charges, by $0.01 per share in 2007.

Qiagen said it expects to incur one-time charges relating to the acquisition of about $3 million in the fourth-quarter 2005.

The companies said the alliance brings together two market leaders and links their complementary technology portfolios and expertise.

Through the alliance, Qiagen and Eppendorf said they intend to focus on improving biological sample management and analysis.

The availability of combined and optimized products should create significant benefits for customers in research, applied testing and molecular diagnostics.

"Eppendorf's brand and technical capabilities in many areas including plasticware and liquid handling are legendary in the life science markets. The strong and now aligned brands, product portfolios and innovation engines create a broad array of opportunities to provide significant customer benefits," Qiagen chief executive officer Peer Schatz said in the release.

Qiagen is a Venlo, the Netherlands, holding company with subsidiaries throughout Europe, United States, Canada, Japan and China. It is a provider of enabling technologies and products for molecular diagnostics solutions and preanalytical sample preparation for the separation, purification and handling of nucleic acids and proteins.

Eppendorf, based in Hamburg, Germany, is a supplier of systems and research tools for the global life science industry. It manufactures instruments and consumables for liquid handling including solutions for automation as well as a range of PCR and realtime PCR products.

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