QIAGEN and Center for Molecular Medicine Create Research Collaboration for Molecular Diagnostic Markers for Breast Cancer, Other Women's Hea...( Project to Utilize World-Class So...),Health

Project to Utilize World-Class Software & Database Developed in West

Michigan to Help Advance Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Options

VENLO, Netherlands and GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Feb. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The Center for Molecular Medicine (CMM) today announced the formation of a collaborative effort with its affiliates and QIAGEN NV (Nasdaq: QGEN; Frankfurt, Prime Standard: QIA) to support research focused on discovering molecular biomarkers capable of helping diagnose breast cancer and other women's health issues. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

At the center of the collaboration is the CMM's access to clinical samples, its molecular analysis capabilities as well as XenoBase, a one-of-a- kind software and database system developed at the Van Andel Research Institute. This specialized bio-informatic system is capable of analyzing a wide range of molecular and conventional clinical data to help researchers identify clinically actionable associations between diseases, biomarkers and treatments. XenoBase is the result of more than five years of work by Craig Webb, Ph.D. and Jeremy Miller, Ph.D., of the Van Andel Research Institute, a co-founding joint venture partner of CMM. Based on the result of QIAGEN's initial research, the CMM may also provide laboratory-based genomics and proteomics services to assist QIAGEN in the development and validation of new molecular diagnostic tests.

QIAGEN is a leading global provider of genetic sample and assay technologies, with 30 locations and more than 2,600 employees worldwide and a sales runrate of more than $800 million in 2008. Grand Rapids, Mich.-based CMM (http://www.cmmdx.org) is a CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited, state-of-the-art clinical diagnostics laboratory, founded early in 2007. The CMM's unique capabilities, including XenoBase access, on-site microarray-based DNA typing and gene expression profiling, played a vital r
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