QIAGEN Adds Promising New Biomarker to Pipeline of Personalized Healthcare Assays to Improve Diagnosis of Blood Disorders

Hilden, Germany And Vienna (ots/PRNewswire) -



- Reliable diagnostic tools under development for mutations of calreticulin
(CALR) are expected to benefit patients with blood disorders known as
myeloproliferative neoplasms
- QIAGEN acquired exclusive worldwide license for CALR biomarker from CeMM
Vienna, whose researchers recently published the discovery in the New England Journal
of Medicine
- Addition of CALR biomarker expands market-leading position in Personalized
Healthcare in blood disorders, which includes JAK2, BCR-ABL and other assays

QIAGEN N.V. today announced it has acquired an exclusive
worldwide license to the biomarker calreticulin (CALR), whose
recently discovered mutations are found in an estimated 15% of cases
of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), a group of blood disorders.
QIAGEN licensed the technology from CeMM Vienna, the Research Center
for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, whose
scientists led a team that discovered the presence of mutations of
the CALR protein in MPNs. QIAGEN plans to develop a molecular
diagnostic test for the CALR mutations to offer each patient a
clearer prognostic profile and to guide disease management.
Development of a CALR diagnostic test is expected to be highly
complementary to QIAGEN's kits for a key mutation of the Janus kinase
2 (JAK2) gene.

Myeloproliferative neoplasms, a group of blood disorders involving
overproduction of blood cells, are chronic diseases that can lead to
several complications including thrombosis (blood clots) and in some
cases difficult-to-treat acute leukemia. QIAGEN already has an
exclusive license for the JAK2 V617F mutation, which is present in
about 75% of patients with MPNs. According to an article published in
the New England Journal of Medicine in December 2013 by the CeMM team
led by Robert Kralovics, patients with CALR mutations suffer from a
milder form of the disease than those with the JAK2V617F mutation,
including a lower risk of thrombosis and a higher survival rate.

"This novel biomarker offers an exciting opportunity to broaden
QIAGEN's market-leading position in developing molecular diagnostics
for the whole range of blood disorders. Together, the JAK2 and CALR
biomarkers give us the ability to deliver personalized insights
regarding diagnosis, prognosis and disease management for patients
with myeloprofilerative disorders," said Peer M. Schatz, Chief
Executive Officer of QIAGEN. "We are now looking forward to
developing clinically proven tests for detection of CALR mutations on