QIAGEN launches QCI Secondary Analysis, a new cloud-based secondary analysis solution for oncology and inherited disease applications that enables high-throughput data analysis with limited resource and infrastructure investment.
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has rapidly gained popularity as a diagnostic testing approach due to its unparalleled ability to comprehensively analyze genetic information with high throughput and precision. However, small and decentralized labs face significant hurdles when it comes to adopting NGS testing. From high upfront costs associated with acquiring the necessary equipment, to the complexity of bioinformatics tools and compliance management that require specialized expertise in data analysis and data security, adopting NGS poses challenges for labs with limited staff and infrastructure.
To empower small and decentralized labs to easily adopt NGS testing, QIAGEN has launched a new secondary analysis solution for oncology and inherited disease applications that enables high-throughput secondary analysis for use with any clinical NGS data. QCI Secondary Analysis is an agnostic, cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution that supports all QIAGEN QIAseq panels and seamlessly integrates with QCI Interpret, QIAGEN’s clinical variant interpretation and reporting software, to deliver highly scalable and customizable Sample to Insight workflows for oncology and inherited disease applications.
“Our goal is to empower molecular testing labs, regardless of size, budget, and experience, to leverage the power of comprehensive genomic information to advance precision medicine in every setting. Due to NGS adoption barriers, including complexity and cost, a vast majority of small- to mid-size molecular laboratories rely on limited single-gene tests or choose to outsource sample testing for more comprehensive NGS analysis. However, with the launch of our new NGS secondary analysis software, we are making NGS testing more accessible to decentralized labs.”
Jonathan Sheldon, Senior Vice President of QIAGEN Digital Insights. “
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“QCI Secondary Analysis is particularly valuable for labs looking to start running NGS-based tests because it’s a turnkey solution with easy-to-use features for the everyday lab technician. With the availability of this new solution, QIAGEN has simplified the whole bioinformatics pipeline, providing an integrated workflow that minimizes resource investment and maximizes productivity.”
Can Koşukcu, Senior Bioinformatics Application Scientist of DiagnoSeq, an early-access customer of QCI Secondary Analysis.
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Expanding on the QIAGEN Clinical Insights (QCI) portfolio, QCI Secondary Analysis is designed to streamline analysis from a range of assay types, enabling labs to process more sequencing data without extensive time and resource investment. The turnkey solution is deployed on the QIAGEN Clinical Cloud, a secure cloud environment ensuring the highest degree of isolation and data protection, including compliance with ISO 27001, General Data Protect Regulation (GDPR), and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) requirements.
While QCI Secondary Analysis is a plug-in-play solution that can support any panel, NGS instrument or software, the true value of this new offering is how it complements QIAGEN’s Sample to Insight portfolio. QCI Secondary Analysis is validated for use for all QIAseq panels, can be used with LightSpeed Clinical, a new software module within QIAGEN CLC Genomics Workbench Premium that enables ultra-fast NGS analysis, and directly integrates with QCI Interpret, QIAGEN’s variant interpretation and reporting platform that has been trusted to analyze and interpret more than 3.5 million NGS patient test cases worldwide.
Learn more about QCI Secondary Analysis here.
Every clinical NGS lab is unique. That’s why QIAGEN offers a comprehensive portfolio of secondary analysis solutions designed to meet the needs of each lab. Take our quiz to find out which secondary analysis solution is right for you based on your lab’s computing resources, personnel expertise, and annual sample volume.
Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes in R&D at QIAGEN Digital Insights? Our team of expert scientists is busy collaborating with researchers worldwide. They conduct Sample to Insight studies using QIAGEN’s sample preparation kits and bioinformatics software to elaborate proof of concept studies and contribute to active research efforts. This helps us bring extra value to our customers by helping them apply our solutions to answer their research questions. Here we share two recent research studies comparing molecular signaling in sepsis and COVID-19 to discover new biomarkers.
Progranulin signaling in sepsis, community‑acquired bacterial pneumonia and COVID‑19: A comparative, observational study
Researchers from multiple institutions in Germany collaborated with QIAGEN Digital Insights scientists Dr. Jean-Noël Billaud, Dr. Joseph Pearson and Dr. Nirav Amin in this recent observational study by Brandes et al. The team studied the functional role of the pleiotropic growth factor progranulin in cohorts of sepsis patient cases and compared progranulin plasma levels among sepsis, systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), severe localized infections, community-acquired bacterial pneumonia and COVID-19.
They used QIAGEN Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) to analyze differential expression data from blood taken from septic-shock patient cases and healthy controls and constructed molecular response networks for progranulin. The team used QIAGEN OmicSoft Suite to process and analyze the mRNA sequencing data from the case vs. control groups and sent the results directly to QIAGEN IPA for further biological analysis. Using IPA, the team identified miRNA and mRNA regulation and networks resulting from their high-throughput miRNA/mRNA expression data.
The team found statistically significant molecular differences in the plasma among these disorders. They discovered important relationships between disease severity and progranulin concentrations, identifying the important role of progranulin signaling in the early antimicrobial response in sepsis. This study provides evidence for potentially using progranulin as a biomarker for sepsis and pneumonia, which could be developed to differentiate between these disorders.
This study demonstrates a fantastic example of Sample to Insight workflow implementation using QIAGEN solutions. Prior to molecular analysis of NGS data from mRNA sequencing, QIAGEN’s PAXgene blood miRNA Kit was used for extraction of cellular RNA from whole blood. QIAGEN’s QuantiTect Reverse Transcription Kit was then used for reverse transcription of the isolated mRNA and QIAGEN’s miRCURY LNA SYBR Green PCR Kit was used to set up a real-time PCR reaction prior to amplification using QIAGEN’s Rotor-Gene Q thermal cycler.
Well done to the QIAGEN Digital Insights team and their collaborators on their impactful publication!
Differences in molecular signaling networks underly the clinical distinction between COVID-19 ARDS and the sepsis-induced ARDS phenotypes
Dr. Florian Brandes of the University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, received a prestigious research prize from a major German conference on Intensive Care Medicine for his abstract on molecular signaling networks in different acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) phenotypes. Dr. Jean-Noël Billaud, Senior Principal Scientist for QIAGEN Digital Insights, collaborated on the study. The team researched differentially and significantly regulated miRNA and target mRNA from COVID-19-induced ARDS patient cases, bacterial-induced sepsis-ARDS patient cases and 20 healthy controls. They used QIAGEN IPA to construct signaling networks, comparing the three groups. Their analyses conclude that COVID-ARDS is a unique clinical entity with specific molecular signaling cascades that are unique from sepsis-induced ARDS. Their study suggests that novel biomarkers and different therapeutic approaches should be used from those used in sepsis-ARDS.
Congratulations to our collaborator, Dr. Brandes, on receiving this prestigious award.
Learn more about how QIAGEN Digital Insights helped discover progranulin as a potential biomarker for sepsis, and read the published study here.
Learn more here about SARS-CoV-2 analysis solutions from QIAGEN Digital Insights.
Discover more about QIAGEN’s Sample to Insight research solutions for COVID-19.
In an independent comparative study (1), four miRNA NGS library preparation kits from different vendors were assessed. The results showed that the QIAGEN QIAseq miRNA kit was the superior choice on all parameters benchmarked. Here, we discuss bioinformatics support for NGS data generated with this kit through a dedicated miRNA analysis pipeline.
For library preparation quality control, a spike-in kit is available. Although highly recommended, this QC measure is optional. QC based on this kit is performed in the bioinformatics analysis.
The QIAseq miRNA NGS library preparation kit makes use of Unique Molecular Identifiers (UMIs) enabling precise quantification of nucleic acids in challenging samples such as FFPE, plasma and serum, where the analyte often is rare and highly degraded. UMIs are tagged to the captured analyte so that amplification biases and other artifacts of library preparation can be reduced to a minimum.
In this implementation, both Illumina and IonTorrent reads can be used, in conjunction with a metadata table describing the samples. The QIAseq miRNA Quantification ready-to-use workflow allows the quantification of miRNA expression for each sample. An overview of identified miRNAs across all samples can be generated by the Create Combined miRNA Report tool. The QIAseq miRNA Differential Expression ready-to-use workflow then estimates which miRNAs are differentially expressed, using the well-known tools from the RNA-seq workflows. In all steps, options and parameters in the workflow can be freely changed and adjusted.
Contrary to most miRNA bioinformatics analysis pipelines, which first map to the reference genome, the CLC Genomics Workbench QIAseq miRNA workflow first creates UMI consensus reads. Then, it annotates these UMI reads with Small RNA Reference Data. This data set contains the miRbase database, and spike-in sequence information. In the next release, the software will include options for including custom databases (e.g. piRNABank for additional functional miRNA annotation in addition to rRNAs and tRNAs for sources of non-miRNA reads).
Figure 1 Schematic overview of the bioinformatics workflow for the analysis of NGS data generated using the QIAseq miRNA library preparation kit.
In the Grouped on mature expression table, there is a row for each mature miRNA in the database, which gives insights into which specific miRNA genes are regulated.
miRNA seeds are the active agents regulating biological pathways, no matter which member of a family of similar miRNA genes the seed originates from. The Grouped on seed expression table has a row for each identified miRNA seed. This table supports further analysis in Ingenuity Pathway Analysis.
A Heat Map, Venn Diagram, GO Gene Set Test, and Expression Browser are generated to compare miRNA expressions in groups specified in the metadata.
We have reanalyzed the data from Coenen-Stass1 and found that the pipeline described here yields accurate quantification of the miRNAs and increases the fraction of miRNA-annotated reads, as well as increasing the number of detected miRNAs, compared to the findings reported by Coenen-Stass. Also, a reduction in the coefficient of variation was observed. Tailoring and tuning the bioinformatics tasks for the analysis of NGS data from a specific QIAseq kit thus increases the quality of analysis.
Try the miRNA NGS analysis using CLC Genomics Workbench tutorial.
Check out the related QIAGEN liquid biopsy resources featuring exosome research resources and cfmiRNA solutions.
Plugin availability
The Biomedical Genomics Analysis plugin is freely available and can be downloaded and installed directly on the CLC Genomics Workbench via the Plugin Manager. Plugin files can also be downloaded from our plugins webpage for installation on the CLC Genomics Workbench or CLC Genomics Server.
Today, at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in San Diego, California, QIAGEN announced the launch of two novel products to deliver actionable insights on a wide range of blood cancers: a new workflow for the QCI Interpret bioinformatics solution for hematological malignancies, and the new QIAact Myeloid DNA UMI Panel for use in myeloid neoplasm research as a Sample to Insight workflow on QIAGEN's GeneReader NGS System.
Meet and talk with our experts at ASH 18, booth #1557!
Featured Products and Solutions
We recently announced an Ingenuity® Pathway Analysis (IPA®) update, which now includes more than 47,000 datasets available for Analysis Match. To mark the occasion, we’ve rounded up a few of the most interesting scientific studies that featured IPA. The teams we read about, and the work they accomplish, continues to impress us with their endless resourcefulness and creativity. We hope you’ll enjoy reading how IPA is helping scientists and researchers to generate deeper insights into their work.
Presymptomatic Change in MicroRNAs Modulates Tau Pathology
First author: Salil Sharma
Nature recently published a study by a cohort of Indiana University scientists who wanted to identify RNA changes that might contribute to tauopathy (a class of neurodegenerative diseases caused by misfolding of the tau protein). They used QIAGEN IPA throughout the stages of their process, leveraging its network analysis functionality to correlate observed transcriptomic changes, and analyzing miR-RNA pairing. They discovered that many canonical and disease associated pathways were altered at the presymptomatic stage of tauopathy, and that miR (MicroRNA) changes at an early stage of tauopathy are likely to contribute to disease progression. By invoking early miR changes triggered by Tau expression, they may impact disease progression by altering several key biological pathways.
Resveratrol Protects Mice Against SEB‐Induced Acute Lung Injury and Mortality by miR‐193a Modulation that Targets TGF‐β Signaling
First author: Hasan Alghetaa
A group of scientists from the University of South Carolina studied the impact of using Resveratrol—a phytoallexin—on mice with Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB)-induced acute lung injury. They used QIAGEN IPA to analyze IDs and fold change quantities of 66 differentially regulated MiRNA to determine potentially affected gene targets and molecular pathways. They published their results in the March issue of Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, in which they wrote, “our studies suggest that RES can effectively neutralize SEB‐mediated lung injury and mortality through potential regulation of miRNA that promote anti‐inflammatory activities”
Hodgkin Lymphoma-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Change the Secretome of Fibroblasts Toward a CAF Phenotype
First author: Bastian Dörsam
When a team of German researchers researched the extracellular vesicles (EV)-mediated interplay of Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL) cells and fibroblast, they used QIAGEN IPA to analyze pathway proteomic data. They found that HL cells and fibroblasts interact in a two-way manner, which not only changes migratory properties but also encourages the transition of a healthy fibroblast to a cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) phenotype that is concomitant with the alteration of their inflammatory secretome. The team published their results in Frontiers in Immunology, with the conclusion that more in-depth study of the complex interactions in HL and the role of EVs might contribute to the development of novel therapeutic cancer-fighting tools.
Exploring Gene Expression Biomarker Candidates for Neurobehavioral Impairment from Total Sleep Deprivation
First author: Hilary A. Uyhelji
A recent report in Biomedical Genomics presented novel candidate biomarkers associated with lapses of attention during total sleep deprivation (TSD). The Oklahoma City-based team used QIAGEN IPA to explore molecular pathways and networks based on previously published gene interactions and found that 212 genes changed expression while responding to the TSD treatment. This supports previous TSD-associated findings, and also points to immune response and ion signaling. The report confirms that “analysis of these genes may aid fundamental understanding of the impact of TSD on neurobehavioral performance.”
Prostate Cancer Susceptibility Gene HIST1H1A is a Modulator of Androgen Receptor Signaling and Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition
First author: Kendra A. Williams
Prostate cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed male cancers. A cohort of scientists in Maryland set out to decipher the functional role of the HIST1H1A gene in the development of aggressive prostate cancer, using QIAGEN’s IPA to analyze omics data. This helped them to conclude that HIST1H1A expression is significantly suppressed in human prostate adenocarcinoma compared to its normal counterpart. They also determined that systems genetics can be used to show how hereditary variation influences the susceptibility to aggressive prostate cancer. The results of this study—published in Oncotarget—have provided a clearer understanding of the mechanisms that underlie aggressive development of prostate cancer, which in turn will aid researchers to develop better options for treatment.
If QIAGEN’s IPA is helping you make strides in your research, we would love to hear about it. Please contact us to share your story, or just to request a free trial!
ASHG 2016 was an exciting event for us. We loved the beautiful city of Vancouver, BC, and our calendars were packed with speakerships, poster presentations and meetings with peers and colleagues. We also announced our new Sample-to-Insight solutions for liquid biopsies and hereditary diseases — which included our bioinformatics solutions, and our booth was buzzing with people who wanted to learn more. Our public-facing ASHG activities were a germane reflection of the event’s overarching theme: “Sharing Discoveries. Shaping our Future.” Over the course of five days during ASHG, QIAGEN Bioinformatics staff delivered six separate in-booth presentations, five poster presentations and an educational workshop focused on liquid biopsy, RNA-seq, and hereditary diseases.
If you missed them, or would like to see them again, you can see Jean-Noel Billaud's presentation on an Integrative approach to biomarker discovery: Comparative analysis of two cancers using genomics and transcriptomics from RNA sequencing data here, and Helge Martens' on Rapid identification and prioritization of pathogenic variants associated with anomalies of the kidneys and urinary tract here.
We were not the only ones who were busy during ASHG. The Broad Institute’s new beta of its Genome Aggregation Database, or “gnomAD” was announced, which boasts information from 126,216 human exomes and 15,136 whole human genomes and doubles the number of exomes available from the ExAC population database. This news resonated strongly with us because we’re championing similar efforts with the Allele Frequency Community — our opt-in community resource which encourages the sharing of anonymized, pooled frequency statistics among laboratories. The industry’s continued drumbeat toward precision medicine was another recurring theme, going hand-in-hand with the strong focus on Canada’s efforts to adopt its own version of 2008’s U.S. Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. We also saw continued buzz around CRISPR technology, with several ASHG sessions dedicated to both the implications and obligations inherent in genome editing technology.
We hope you enjoyed your time at ASHG and we hope to see you soon. If you have questions about liquid biopsy or related solutions, do not hesitate to contact us.
Our next big event will be AMP 2016 in Charlotte, NC from Nov. 10-12 and the NGS Congress in London from Nov. 10-11. Keep an eye on this site for updates about what we’ll be doing there. We hope you enjoyed your time at ASHG and we hope to see you soon. If you have questions about liquid biopsy or related solutions, do not hesitate to contact us.
We are thrilled to be part of the announcement at ASHG 2016, detailing the new QIAseq® cfDNA All-in-One Kit — including the market’s first bioinformatics workflow for cell-free DNA.
With this streamlined testing solution researchers can now analyze cell-free DNA quickly, conveniently, and reliably to obtain accurate and meaningful results using any major sequencing platform. Researchers who are applying liquid biopsy methods in their work with NIPT or with hereditary and rare diseases can use this solution to address NGS bottlenecks while increasing the accuracy and sensitivity of their variant identification efforts.
We are proud to be furthering the use case for liquid biopsy, and are looking forward to hearing how others are using this tool in innovative ways at ASHG. Please stop by our booth #1234, where we’ll be hosting several presentations on Wednesday and Thursday.
Furthermore, QIAGEN unveiled an enhanced bioinformatics workflow for hereditary and rare diseases, offering unique capabilities for research using liquid biopsies in non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) as well as cancer biomarker discovery. QIAGEN is rolling out the solutions at the American Society of Human Genetics ASHG 2016 Annual Meeting in Vancouver.
“The new All-in-One Kit for extraction and library preparation delivers a powerful solution for researchers to maximize their discovery potential and accuracy of results from liquid biopsies, achieving breakthroughs in NGS detection of even the rarest variants. In tandem with new dedicated bioinformatics, our cfDNA kit is creating a true Sample to Insight experience for liquid biopsy analysis, efficiently delivering, accurate and meaningful results with any major sequencing platform,” said Brad Crutchfield, Senior Vice President of QIAGEN’s Life Sciences Business Area. “Also at ASHG 2016, QIAGEN Bioinformatics is introducing an enhanced analysis and interpretation workflow for identification of disease-causing variants in hereditary and rare diseases, useful in both NIPT and cancer research. NGS users are increasingly relying on QIAGEN’s growing portfolio of Sample to Insight solutions.”
The QIAseq cfDNA kit provides a complete solution, from plasma to NGS-ready libraries, to maximize cell-free DNA conversion and discovery potential for translational research using liquid biopsies. Building on proven QIAamp technology, the gold standard in cfDNA extraction, the All-in-One kit is the first kit to combine extraction and library preparation, making library prep more convenient, efficient and accurate for the demands of exome or whole genome sequencing.
QIAGEN also is unveiling its enhanced hereditary disease solution to provide a streamlined, easy-to-use analysis and interpretation workflow for NGS data from liquid biopsies. Use of small blood samples to detect disease-causing variants in circulating cfDNA offers advantages in neonatal testing or monitoring of cancer patients for translational research, but the NGS data can be difficult to analyze. QIAGEN’s bioinformatics solution enables labs to achieve more accurate detection and the highest sensitivity in identifying variants. Integrating Biomedical Genomics Workbench, Ingenuity Variant Analysis and other components, the solution addresses NGS bottlenecks and ensures that no pathogenic variant is missed.
QIAGEN will exhibit at booth #1234 during ASHG 2016, demonstrating the cfDNA Sample to Insight workflow, the enhanced hereditary disease solution and other tools. The company also will present an educational session, “Sample-to-Insight NGS Solutions: Multimodal Liquid Biopsy WGS, Trio and Family Analyses, and RNA-sequencing Analysis and Interpretation,” from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Thursday October 20 in Room 13, Convention Centre East Building. For information please visit https://digitalinsights.qiagen.com.
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), Applied Testing (forensics, veterinary testing and food safety), Pharma (pharma and biotech companies) and Academia (life sciences research). As of June 30, 2016, QIAGEN employed approximately 4,600 people in over 35 locations worldwide. Further information can be found at https://www.qiagen.com.
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, 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. 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).
Meet us at ASHG 2016
Together with leading scientists and clinicians from around the world we will present recent findings at ASHG in Vancouver, Canada October 18-22. You can meet us in the exhibit hall where we'll have a series of presentations in our booth, at the poster sessions, or you can join our workshop where invited speakers will present their NGS sample to insight solutions.
Sample to Insight NGS solutions: Multimodal liquid biopsy WGS, trio and family analyses, and RNA sequencing analysis and interpretation
Date and time: Thursday, October 20, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Location: Room 13, East building, Convention Center
Speakers:
You are welcome to visit us at booth #1234 during the exhibition hours. Our experts will be there to discuss and present our solutions and will also host the following in-booth presentations:
Wednesday October 19
| 10:30 a.m. / 2:45 p.m. | Comparative transcriptome analyses of HCC and EEC highlight common molecular and biological processes |
| 10:45 a.m. / 3:00 p.m. | QIAseq Targeted NGS: Digital Sequencing for high performance mutation detection |
| 12:45 p.m. | QIAGEN Clinical Insight – Clinical interpretation and reporting of complex NGS data, made simple |
| 1:15 p.m. | Sample-to-Insight from Cell-free DNA |
Thursday October 20
| 10:30 a.m. / 2:45 p.m. | HGMD: Comprehensive coverage of published inherited disease mutations |
| 10:45 a.m. / 3:00 p.m. | Prioritizing causal variants for rare, inherited syndromes, using patient phenotypes |
| 12:45 p.m. | QIAGEN Clinical Insight – Clinical interpretation and reporting of complex NGS data, made simple |
| 1:15 p.m. | Sample-to-Insight from Cell-free DNA |
Phenotypic-Driven Prioritization of Trio-Based Whole Genome Sequencing Data for Congenital Disorders
Presented by Alina Khromykh on Thursday, October 20 at 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Poster# 1721T, Bioinformatics and Computational, Exhibit Hall B, West Building
Sensitive and Reliable Variant Detection From Challenging Samples
Presented by Nan Fang on Thursday, October 20 at 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Poster# 2873T, Cancer Genetics, Exhibit Hall B, West Building
Implementing molecular barcode counting into a comprehensive integrated targeted sequencing portfolio and bioinformatics pipeline
Presented by Eric Lader on Thursday, October 20 at 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Poster# 728T, Molecular and Cytogenetic Diagnostics, Exhibit Hall B, West Building
Leveraging an Advanced Knowledge Base of Biological Pathways and Network Analytics to Identify Disease-Causing Mutations from Clinical Genome and Exome Sequence Data with Increased Efficiency and Accuracy
Presented by Sohela Shah on Friday, October 21 at 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Poster# 1761F, Bioinformatics and Computational, Exhibit Hall B, West Building
miRNA as liquid biopsy biomarkers in cancer
Presented by Brian Dugan on Friday, October 21 at 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Poster# 2892F, Cancer Genetics, Exhibit Hall B, West Building
For more details about ASHG 2016, please visit the official event page.
You can find more information about all QIAGEN solutions at qiagen.com.
The Individualizing Medicine conference hosted by Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine is taking place on October 5-6 in Rochester, MN.
At Individualizing Medicine 2016 you can experience expert speakers, breakout sessions and a poster session. You'll have the opportunity to discuss individualized medicine, epigenomics, pharmacogenomics, and much more.
When: Tuesday, October 4, 9:00 a.m. – noon.
Where: Plummer Building, Third Floor room 3-25B (RO_PL_03_25B)
Trainer: Jeffrey Knight, Ph.D., Field Application Scientist, QIAGEN Bioinformatics
Practical info:
Register for the training (required)
Please join us for a workshop showcasing how top researchers are using our solutions to generate high-impact discoveries in genomic medicine.
Title: QIAGEN Sample to Insight
When: Tuesday, October 4, 3:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Light refreshments will be served. Please note, space is limited and signup is necessary.
Join our 4-part webinar series on circulating cell-free DNA (ccfDNA) as liquid biopsy
Get more details about the conference
It’s a pleasure to announce the successful completion of QIAGEN’s acquisition of Exiqon AS. Welcome to our new colleagues!
Exiqon is a world leader in RNA technology and the company has developed and successfully commercialized comprehensive RNA technology solutions that fit seamlessly into QIAGEN’s Sample to Insight portfolio. Together we expect to deliver a broad and industry leading offering of molecular biology solutions – spanning sample technologies, assay technologies, and bioinformatics.
For more details on the transaction, please read the official press release below.
Press release
QIAGEN announces successful completion of tender offer for shares in Exiqon
Transaction will enhance leadership position in RNA solutions from Sample to Insight
Venlo, The Netherlands, June 23, 2016 – QIAGEN N.V. (NASDAQ: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced the successful completion of the conditional, voluntary public tender offer for the shares in Exiqon A/S, a world leader in RNA technology. The extended Offer Period expired yesterday, on 22 June 2016, at 23.59 (CET).
QIAGEN N.V. has in total received acceptances from shareholders in Exiqon A/S representing 34,852,938 shares or approximately 94.52% of the share capital and voting rights in Exiqon A/S. The Offer will be settled in cash through the shareholders in Exiqon's own custodian banks and will be effected as soon as possible, but not later than 28 June 2016. QIAGEN N.V. will apply for a delisting of the shares of Exiqon A/S and intends to initiate a squeeze-out of the remaining minority shareholders immediately after completion of the offer.
"We are very pleased to have completed this transaction and will now initiate the integration process", commented Peer M. Schatz, Chief Executive Officer of QIAGEN N.V. "We welcome our new employees to the QIAGEN family and look forward to providing the exciting benefits of the now combined portfolio to research and diagnostic laboratories."
Exiqon has a strong position in the promising new market of non-coding RNA (ncRNA). The company has developed and successfully commercialized comprehensive RNA technology solutions that fit seamlessly into QIAGEN’s Sample to Insight portfolio. Together with Exiqon, QIAGEN expects to deliver a broad and industry leading offering of molecular biology solutions – spanning sample technologies, assay technologies, and bioinformatics.
Transaction background
On 18 April 2016, QIAGEN had published a conditional, voluntary public tender offer for the shares in Exiqon A/S, in which the shareholders were offered a cash amount of DKK 18 for each share they held in the company. This Offer period had been extended on 19 May 2016 and on June 3 at unchanged terms and conditions. On 8 June 2016, QIAGEN announced its decision to change the offer conditions, reducing the acceptance threshold from 90% to 89.20%.
The total consideration to fully acquire Exiqon is estimated at approximately DKK 683 million. Based on a currency exchange rate of DKK 1.00 = $0.150 (market rate as of March, 29, 2016), the transaction is valued at approximately $100 million.
Details of the financial impacts will be announced on QIAGEN’s next earnings call held on July 29.
Barclays is financial adviser to QIAGEN in connection with the Offer and Danske Bank A/S is acting as settlement agent.
Special information for United States residents
The Offer is subject to the laws of Denmark. The Offer relates to the securities of a Danish company and is subject to the disclosure requirements applicable under Danish law, which may be different in material respects from those applicable in the United States. The Offer is being made in the United States in compliance with Section 14(e) of, and Regulation 14E promulgated under, the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and otherwise in accordance with the requirements of Danish law. The Offer is not subject to Section 14(d)(1) of, or Regulation 14D promulgated under, the Exchange Act, and is made in reliance on the exemption provided by Rule 14d-1(d) thereunder.
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), Applied Testing (forensics, veterinary testing and food safety), Pharma (pharma and biotech companies) and Academia (life sciences research). As of March 31, 2016, QIAGEN employed approximately 4,600 people in over 35 locations worldwide. Further information can be found at http://www.qiagen.com.
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, 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. 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).
