Qiagen Acquires PCR licenses from Roche and Idaho Technology

Qiagen has acquired additional licenses from Roche and Idaho Technology that are related to the use of instrumentation and reagents for PCR-based molecular testing. Financial details were not disclosed.

The agreements cover thermal cycler rights and real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) methods for diagnostics and all other applications. In addition, the agreements also cover rights for “High Resolution Melting curve analysis” (HRM) technology.

This PCR technology, which is leveraged by the company’s detection platform Rotor-Gene Q, opens up an array of applications such as mutation discovery, pathogen detection and methylation analysis, as it adds a further information dimension into traditional real-time PCR.

With these agreements, Qiagen becomes the first Idaho Technology/ Roche licensee to have full freedom to offer HRM related instruments and reagents under license in all formats and for all purposes in research and diagnostics worldwide, according to the company.