Global biotech company QIAGEN to open regional headquarters in Riyadh

QIAGEN announced a significant expansion of its business in the Middle East region, which includes the plan to open regional headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in order to strengthen its commercial footprint in the region further.

To that end, the company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia — addressing various public health and infection control initiatives.

New regional HQ in Saudi Arabia and MoU with the Ministry of Health

To accommodate its growing regional presence and customer needs, QIAGEN will inaugurate its new regional headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the beginning of 2024. This office will further strengthen the company's commitment to the Middle East and improve its ability to serve clients in the area.

QIAGEN has recently signed an MoU with the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia that covers various public health and infection control initiatives and aligns with the Health Sector Transformation Program of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030. The MoU includes:

• Establishing a localized data center by QIAGEN Digital Insights (QDI) to support advanced bioinformatics within the country, ensuring data protection, and robust service while complying with national legislation. The data center will enable in-country molecular data analysis without information leaving the country and provide localized access to QIAGEN Clinical Insight (QCI) Interpret. QCI Interpret assists in interpreting and reporting genomic variants from next-generation sequencing data, facilitating precision medicine. With expertise in installing essential infrastructure, including bioinformatics servers, QDI currently operates seven data centers worldwide.
• Assisting the Ministry in eliminating meningitis per the World Health Organization (WHO) program using QIAGEN's syndromic testing platform QIAstat-Dx.
• Supporting the implementation of a prevention screening program for cervical cancer under the WHO elimination initiative by 2030, supplying the country with HPV tests.
• Developing a national latent TB screening program using QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus.

Supporting nationwide tuberculosis screening program in Oman

QIAGEN, through its Commercial Partner Taiba Medserv, will provide hundreds of thousands of QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus assays to Oman's new program — which aims to test for latent tuberculosis (TB) in expatriates applying for residency in the Gulf state starting in early 2024.

As a country with a low incidence of TB and a large workforce from high-incidence countries, Oman is expanding its TB testing policy for residency applicants by adding systematic screening for latent TB infection using QIAGEN's simple standard-setting QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus blood test. The Ministry of Health plans to test up to 800,000 people over two years and offer direct medical treatment to those found carrying TB bacteria without symptoms.

Screening for latent TB infections is vital in the effort to end TB, a disease that claims over a million lives each year. One in four people across the globe are thought to have latent TB infections, with 5-10% of them expected at some point to develop active 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 in all settings to combat the global TB epidemic.

On the record

"At QIAGEN, we believe that improving healthcare outcomes starts with a strong foundation of collaboration and innovation, and we are excited to play a crucial role in advancing health and well-being throughout the Middle East," said Simona Grandits, Senior Director, Head of Sales and Marketing EEMEA at QIAGEN. "We are proud to contribute to the global efforts to end TB and other serious health threats. Our new regional headquarters in Riyadh will enable us to better serve our customers and foster strong partnerships with local stakeholders."

About QIAGEN

Netherlands-based QIAGEN is the leading global provider of "Sample to Insight" solutions that enable customers to gain molecular insights from samples containing the building blocks of life. Its sample technologies isolate and process DNA, RNA and proteins from blood, tissue and other materials.

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).