Qiagen Expands in Asia

Qiagen (Venlo, The Netherlands) has established a subsidiary in New Delhi–Qiagen India Pvt–to enable it to start direct sales in India. Until now the firm has been selling its products there only through distributor partnerships. The move to a deeper engagement in India is a further milestone for Qiagen in Asia, where it entered China in 2004 and Japan in 1998.

The Dutch company has been active in India since 1995 and has developed numerous initiatives, partnerships and a strong network. The firm expects that this enhanced presence will further contribute to its position in the market, and is a further milestone in Qiagen's strategy to expand in emerging, high-growth regions.

The Indian life sciences and biotech market is one of the fastest growing in the region. In 2010, the domestic market in India grew to revenues of $5 billion and is expected to approximately double by 2015. India's domestic in vitro diagnostics (IVD) market is projected to grow at 15% annually in the next several years and to accelerate its progress due to government incentive programs and infrastructure investment.

"India is a strategic market for the global expansion of Qiagen, with 1.2 billion people and rapidly growing health care and R&D sectors," said Peer Schatz, chief executive of Qiagen, adding: "The great potential for our molecular diagnostic technologies to serve patients in India, along with the research needs of the country's robust pharmaceutical segment, emerging applied testing market, and a rapidly increasing academic market, makes India a perfect fit for our growth and geographic expansion goals."

As with other developing countries, India faces a double burden of noncommunicable and communicable diseases. Demographic changes and rising living standards have also led to an increase in chronic diseases. With one of the broadest offerings in molecular diagnostics for profiling, prevention, personalized health care and point-of-need testing, as well as one of the largest sample and assay technology portfolios for drug development, Qiagen is well positioned to serve the growing Indian market.

Related Links:
Qiagen