Nov. 5, 2009 (Business Wire) -- QIAGEN (NASDAQ:QGEN) (FWB:QIA) today announced an expansion of its strategic partnership with the United Kingdom’s Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), one of the world’s leading research institutions in veterinary science. Under the terms of the agreement, QIAGEN has received the exclusive rights to commercialize three new PCR-based tests for the detection of widespread bacterial diseases in horses. Financial details have not been disclosed.

The new tests developed with and validated by the VLA target three different common bacterial infections: Streptococcus equi, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The first target Streptococcus equi is the primary cause of strangles, a respiratory based infection leading to weight loss, swellings, and abscesses, with mortality rates of up to 10 percent. It is one of the most widespread diseases in horses and can persist for several months, thereby leading to severe negative economic impacts incurring from treatment costs and limited activity levels. Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa cause Equine metritis (EM), an infection of the genital tract of mares usually passed on through sexual contact. The disease is highly contagious and is detrimental to fertility. This poses a major problem for thoroughbred breeders who are required to have their mares bred by live cover.

Reliable and fast screening of horses for EM agents before breeding, and rapid diagnosis of both Strangles and EM are imperative to prevent transmission, contain outbreaks and enable early antibiotic treatments. “Molecular technologies are already the first choice in veterinary testing for many costly viral diseases such as bovine viral diarrhea or bluetongue. We now also are experiencing a growing demand for modern molecular technologies enabling the fast and reliable detection of bacterial infections”, said Simone Gauch, QIAGEN’s Senior Global Marketing Director Applied Testing. “Our extended agreement with the VLA will help to further strengthen our offering in this segment and enable us to provide those advanced technologies to our customers worldwide.”

The new assays will complement QIAGEN’s existing cador product line of molecular tests for animal diseases, which are more sensitive than traditional testing methods such as bacterial cultures or immunodiagnostics. QIAGEN’s existing portfolio outside the US already includes a PCR-based test for Taylorella equigenitalis which is the cause of Contagious equine metritis. Under the new agreement, QIAGEN plans to adapt this test to cover additional bacteria causing infertility, including Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.