Full Press Release Details
PRESS RELEASE DATED JANUARY 11, 2002
QIAGEN Opens North American Headquarters in Montgomery County, Maryland
Venlo, The Netherlands, January 11, 2002 - QIAGEN N.V. (Nasdaq: QGENF, Neuer
Markt: QIA; Easdaq: QGEN) announced today the opening of its new,
state-of-the-art research and manufacturing complex in Germantown, Maryland.
QIAGEN Sciences, Inc., the company's wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, completed the
200,000 square-foot headquarters in less than two years and plans to employ more
than 300 trained workers and scientists to manufacture and develop products for
the separation, purification and handling of nucleic acids for the steadily
growing US life science markets.
QIAGEN's carefully planned facility consists of several buildings in a
campus-like arrangement, situated on 24 acres. It will accommodate more than 200
employees in manufacturing as well as 100 employees in research and development.
Manufacturing activities will start by the end of February.
"We are pleased to present this state-of-the-art manufacturing site and
world-class research facility to Montgomery County and the State of Maryland,"
said Dr. Metin Colpan, Chief Executive Officer of QIAGEN. "We believe the
quality of work and research performed here will make a significant contribution
to our products and services and therefore to the fast-moving life science
Peer M. Schatz, Chief Financial Officer of QIAGEN added: "QIAGEN generates
approximately 60 percent of its consolidated revenues in the United States. In
addition to enhancing and expanding QIAGEN's manufacturing base, the new
Germantown manufacturing facilities should have a positive impact on the
Company's exposure to currency fluctuations, as well as enhance logistics."
"We chose Montgomery County for our U.S. headquarters because it allows us to be
close to our customers and provides an excellent environment for expanding our
R&D program," said Michael W. Burgett, Vice President of North American
Operations and General Manager of the Germantown manufacturing and research
facilities. "Montgomery County also has a large commercial and academic
biotechnology base which is very attractive to us," he added.
"We are proud to welcome QIAGEN Sciences to Maryland and to our growing family
of international scientific companies," said Governor Parris N. Glendening, who
first met with QIAGEN officials in 1999. "The arrival of this biotech leader
supports our commitment to attracting economic development and reinforces
Maryland's position as a pro-business state, which offers outstanding assets -
including a highly skilled workforce - to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical
QIAGEN Sciences, Inc. will become the new North American headquarters for
manufacturing, production, research and development. QIAGEN customers are
involved in research across the many fields of life sciences, including in
genomics, proteomics, gene therapy, drug development, and DNA-based molecular
diagnostics. The customer base includes many well-known educational institutions
such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Harvard University, Baylor
College of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, as well as medical
research centers such as Cedars Sinai, and biotechnology and pharmaceutical
companies such as Bristol Myers Squibb, Hoffmann-La Roche and many others.
QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands holding company with subsidiaries in Germany, the
United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Italy, Australia
and Canada, believes it is the world's leading provider of innovative enabling
technologies and products for the separation, purification and handling of
nucleic acids. The Company has developed a comprehensive portfolio of more than
320 proprietary, consumable products for nucleic acid separation, purification
and handling, nucleic acid amplification,
QIAGEN N.V., Form 6-K, Quarter ended March 31, 2002
as well as automated instrumentation, synthetic nucleic acid products and
related services. QIAGEN's products are sold in more than 42 countries
throughout the world to academic research markets and to leading pharmaceutical
and biotechnology companies. In addition, the Company is positioning its
products for sale into developing commercial markets, including DNA sequencing
and genomics, nucleic acid-based molecular diagnostics, and genetic vaccination
and gene therapy. QIAGEN employs approximately 1,700 people worldwide. Further
information on QIAGEN can be found at www.qiagen.com.
Certain of the statements contained in this news 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 and markets and operating results
are forward-looking, such statements are based on current expectations 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 and
risks of dependency on logistics), variability of operating results, the
commercial development of the DNA sequencing, genomics and synthetic nucleic
acid-related markets, nucleic acid-based molecular diagnostics market, and
genetic vaccination and gene therapy markets, competition, rapid or unexpected
changes in technologies, fluctuations in demand for QIAGEN's, products
(including seasonal fluctuations), 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 its
products from competitors, and the integration of acquisitions of technologies
and businesses. For further information, refer to the discussion in reports that
QIAGEN has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
QIAGEN N.V., Form 6-K, Quarter ended March 31, 2002