SHANGHAI and TAIPEI, Aug. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- QIAGEN today officially opened its new subsidiary in Taiwan, QIAGEN Taiwan Co., Ltd., and began direct sales in the market. To mark the event, QIAGEN held an inauguration ceremony at the Sheraton Hotel, Taipei, attended by 100 distinguished guests, including local government officials, prominent key opinion leaders and customers.
Establishing the subsidiary will complement QIAGEN's close partnerships and strong network with distributors and selected customers across Taiwan. QIAGEN expects the direct presence to further advance its strong position in the rapidly growing, dynamic Taiwan market and to add momentum to QIAGEN's expansion strategy in Asia. The new subsidiary, based in Taipei, will have 17 employees.
"We are pleased to see that QIAGEN is taking additional steps to contribute to and support the high quality of science and research being done in Taiwan," said Mr. Hans Fortuin, Representative of the Netherlands Trade and Investment Office. "QIAGEN's expansion into Asia, as bolstered by its direct entry into India earlier this year, is a strong indicator of the constantly growing importance of the Asian region to European companies and the European economy in general." Taiwan's bioresearch market reached a value of US $35 million in 2009 and is projected to continue to grow rapidly in the future. Together with 170 local academic institutions, Taiwan's life sciences R&D and pharmaceutical companies are driving the development of the market and the need for sample and assay technologies. Cancer biomarker research in medical and pharmaceutical R&D is one example of this emerging need. QIAGEN's diverse product portfolio is well positioned to address customers' growing demand by providing highly sensitive, rapid tests producing reliable results for detection of certain gene mutations.
"Geographic expansion is a cornerstone of our corporate strategy. We are always looking for opportunities to expand our presence in potential markets. QIAGEN's new Taiwan subsidiary is a strategic step in further enlarging our commitment to serving customers in Asia, our fastest-growing market. Our business has grown dramatically since we entered China in 2005, and earlier this year we also established a direct presence in India," said Dr. Victor Shi, QIAGEN Asia Pacific President. "Adding a local team and infrastructure in Taiwan will give us more access and help us to provide better support to our local customers, especially in academic research and pharmaceutical drug development."
Since 2005, QIAGEN has expanded to 13 offices with over 500 employees across Asia. In 2010, revenues from Asia, not including Japan, represented approximately 12% of QIAGEN sales.
About QIAGEN
QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands holding company, is the leading global provider of sample and assay technologies. Sample technologies are used to isolate and process DNA, RNA and proteins from biological samples such as blood or tissue. Assay technologies are used to make such isolated bio-molecules visible. QIAGEN has developed and markets more than 500 sample and assay products as well as automated solutions for such consumables. The company provides its products to molecular diagnostics laboratories, academic researchers, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and applied testing customers for purposes such as forensics, animal or food testing and pharmaceutical process control. QIAGEN's assay technologies include one of the broadest panels of molecular diagnostic tests available worldwide. This panel includes the digene HPV Test, which is regarded as a "gold standard" in testing for high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV), the primary cause of cervical cancer, as well as a broad suite of solutions for infectious disease testing and companion diagnostics. QIAGEN employs nearly 3,600 people in over 30 locations worldwide. Further information about QIAGEN can be found at http://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, markets, strategy or operating results, and to expected growth of QIAGEN's business in Taiwan and Asia in particular, 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 applied testing markets, clinical research markets and proteomics 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 fluctuations due to the level and timing of customers' funding, budgets, and other factors), our ability to obtain regulatory approval of our infectious disease panels, 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' products, market acceptance of QIAGEN's new products and the integration of acquired technologies and businesses. For further information, refer to the discussions in reports that QIAGEN has filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Contacts:
| Public Relations | |
| Mr. Brendan Green | +86 21 3865 3824 |
| e-mail: pr@qiagen.com | |
