Qiagen Gets Aussie Diagnostics Firm

Qiagen, a Dutch supplier of diagnostic sample and assay technologies, has agreed to acquire the Australian diagnostics firm Cellestis for $355 million. Cellestis has commercialized a molecular diagnostic test for latent tuberculosis and plans to introduce a test for cytomegalovirus. Cellestis’ tools test whole-blood samples for the presence of systematically amplified molecular analytes. The company claims that the tests provide information on latent infections, in which pathogens are present in such low amounts that they are not detectable with traditional DNA-based diagnostics. Qiagen says the technology can be used as a preliminary assay with its DNA- and RNA-based technologies.