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| Qiagen's digene HC2 HPV DNA Test--Courtesy of Qiagen |
Molecular diagnostics company Qiagen ($QGEN) will invest $10 million to build out manufacturing capabilities at its Germantown, MD, campus by early 2015, focusing on products for women's health and infectious disease.
The digene HC2 HPV Test for cervical cancer prevention and QuantiFERON-TB Gold test for latent tuberculosis will be manufactured in Germantown, the company said.
"At Germantown, we are creating a global focus on molecular diagnostics for disease prevention, including women's health and tuberculosis, by placing our R&D teams on the same campus with marketing and manufacturing for those products," said Douglas Liu, senior vice president of operations, in the statement.
And there's more growth to come. "This upgrade will prepare us for expected growth in the coming years, including moving additional support to Maryland for several rapidly growing product lines," Liu said in the statement.
The company said that the Germantown site passed FDA preapproval inspections with no Form 483 observations.
Meanwhile, the company's Gaithersburg campus will be closed as the Germantown facility, which is less than 20 miles away, takes over its manufacturing responsibilities.
After the consolidation, the Netherland's Qiagen will have two sites in Maryland, where it employs about 550 people. The Frederick site will continue to focus on R&D and manufacturing of products for life sciences research, the company said.
In 2013, Qiagen reported net income of $69.1 million, down from $129.5 million in 2012. The company made news when it launched its new human papillomavirus (HPV) test for resource-constrained settings in India and China, but today's development shows that U.S. is as relevant ever.
- read the press release