QIAGEN reports 20% revenue growth in first quarter 2010

QIAGEN N.V. (Nasdaq:QGEN) (Frankfurt:QIA) today announced the results of operations for its quarter ended March 31, 2010.

Net sales were at the high end of, and adjusted earnings per share for the first quarter 2010 exceeded the guidance provided by the Company on February 9, 2010.

First Quarter 2010 Results

The Company reported that consolidated net sales for its first quarter of 2010 increased 20% to $264.4 million from $220.9 million for the same quarter of 2009. Excluding the favorable impact from foreign currency exchange rates, net sales for the first quarter 2010 would have increased by 14% from the first quarter of 2009. Reported operating income for the quarter increased 21% to $44.7 million from $37.0 million in the same quarter of 2009, and net income for the quarter increased 34% to $33.0 million from $24.7 million in the same quarter of 2009. Diluted earnings per share for the first quarter increased 17% to $0.14 in 2010 (based on 241.9 million weighted average shares and share equivalents outstanding) from $0.12 in 2009 (based on 203.2 million weighted average shares and share equivalents outstanding).

On an adjusted basis, first quarter operating income increased 24% to $73.6 million in 2010 from $59.1 million in 2009, and first quarter adjusted net income increased 22% to $49.3 million in 2010 from $40.3 million in 2009. Adjusted diluted earnings per share were $0.20 in the first quarters of both, 2010 and 2009.

QIAGEN's first quarter 2010 results include the results of operations from the Company's recent acquisitions, the most significant of which were SABiosciences Corporation, acquired in December 2009, and DxS Ltd., acquired in September 2009. Reconciliations of reported results determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) to adjusted results are included in the tables accompanying this release.

"QIAGEN experienced a successful start into 2010," said Peer Schatz, QIAGEN's Chief Executive Officer. "We recorded strong revenue and adjusted net income growth and continued to see exciting momentum in our strategic position. We launched 14 new products in the area of Sample & Assay Technologies and recorded once again an excellent 4% of sales from products launched within the last 12 months. We are also managing an exceptionally strong pipeline of new products and are preparing for the 2010 launches of many strategically important products including the QIAensemble and QIAsymphony-RGQ platforms in Europe together with their broad menu of regulated assays for prevention, profiling and personalized healthcare.

"The first quarter of 2010 was a quarter of very important strategic moves, including in molecular diagnostics. In the field of prevention we extended our support of a cervical cancer screening program for underprivileged women with the Cancer Foundation in China. In the area of profiling we established an agreement for a respiratory pathogen multiplex assay with Celera and in personalized healthcare we were able to acquire an exclusive license for biomarker PI3K from John Hopkins University, a gene discussed as a key biomarker for use in companion diagnostics with certain cancer treatments and entered into an agreement to develop a companion diagnostic with the pharmaceutical company Pfizer for brain tumor patients. In the field of point of need testing we expanded our instrumentation platform with a portable, battery operated, 'ultra-fast time to result', multiplex UV and fluorescence optical measurement device through the acquisition of ESE GmbH for use in medical emergency and critical care testing and in industrial environments.

"In addition, we experienced good growth in product sales to our customers in academia, the pharmaceutical industry and in applied markets.

"We are very well positioned to take advantage of the growth opportunities we are seeing in our target markets and are fully on track to achieve our annual targets."

"We are pleased with our financial performance in this first quarter of 2010. Reported revenues were at the high end of, and adjusted earnings per share exceeded our expectations for the first quarter of 2010," said Roland Sackers, QIAGEN's Chief Financial Officer. "Revenue growth for the first quarter was 20% fueled by a strong organic growth of 11% and a positive contribution of 5% from acquisitions. In addition we saw high growth rates of 24% in our adjusted operating income and of 22% in our adjusted net income.

Our consumable portfolio represented approximately 86% of our total net sales and contributed 15% growth (10% at constant exchange rates). QIAGEN's instrumentation products contributed approximately 14% of our total net sales and continued to show high growth rates of 46% (37% at constant exchange rates). Highlights within our instrumentation portfolio were sample and assay technology automation platforms such as our EZ1 Advanced XL, the QIAsymphony, the QIAgility, the Pyromark and the Rotor-Gene Q. The largest revenue share we recorded in the first quarter 2010 was in sales to customers in molecular diagnostics (approximately 45% of total revenues) followed by sales to customers in academia (approximately 27% of total revenues), in pharma (approximately 21% of total revenues) and in applied testing (approximately 7% of total revenues)."

"We are reiterating our guidance for fiscal year 2010 based on foreign currency exchange rates as of January 31, 2010, with expected revenues between $1,120 and $1,170 million and adjusted diluted earnings per share between $0.90 and $0.96."

QIAGEN – Sample and Assay Technologies Highlights

• QIAGEN acquired ESE GmbH, a developer and manufacturer of portable, battery operated, "ultra-fast time to result", multiplex UV and fluorescence optical measurement devices which enable low-throughput molecular testing in practices, emergency rooms, remote field areas, and other settings where a laboratory infrastructure is not accessible and fast turnaround is required.
   
• QIAGEN and Pfizer entered into an agreement to develop a companion diagnostic assay for PF-04948568 (CDX-110), an immunotherapy vaccine in development for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common malignant primary brain tumor in adults and occurs in around 25,000 patients worldwide each year. Pfizer's investigational drug PF-04948568 (CDX-110) is a peptide vaccine which targets the tumor-specific Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor variant III (EGFRvIII), a mutated form of the epidermal growth factor receptor that is only present in cancer cells and occurs in 25-40 percent of GBM tumors. The QIAGEN assay is designed to identify those patients whose tumors express the EGFRvIII mutation, allowing for the possibility of more targeted and personalized treatment.
   
• QIAGEN acquired a global and exclusive license for biomarker PI3K from John Hopkins University and intends to develop PCR and real time-PCR assays for companion diagnostic use with certain cancer treatments. A number of studies suggest that mutations in the PI3K oncogene are indicative for successful antibody treatment of patients suffering from lung, breast and other cancers. The license includes all countries and allows QIAGEN to enter partnerships with pharmaceutical companies to develop and market tests for new cancer drug candidates.
   
• QIAGEN launched 14 new products in the area of Sample & Assay Technologies including the second module of the QIAsymphony, the QIAsymphony AS for automated assay setup in combination with the QIAsymphony SP, the QIAxtractor, a high throughput nucleic acid purification system and miScript PCR products for use in real time PCR set ups while working with miRNA. In addition QIAGEN launched a number of molecular diagnostic assays including CE labeled artus real time PCR assays for the detection of the BK virus, the VZV (varicella-zoster virus) and the CE labeled QIAsymphony AXpH DNA Kit for DNA extraction from PreservCyt Liquid Cytology samples on the QIAsymphony for HPV testing.