QIAGEN Unveils Revolutionary Sample Processing Platform

The QIAcube Creates New Dimension of Utility for any User Conducting Molecular Biology

Venlo, The Netherlands, January 29, 2007 - QIAGEN N.V. (Nasdaq: QGEN, Frankfurt, Prime Standard: QIA), the worldwide leading provider of sample and assay technologies for life sciences, applied testing and molecular diagnost ics, today announced the launch of the QIAcube - a compact platform incorporating novel and proprietary technologies that allows users to fully automate the processing of almost all QIAGEN consumable products that today are used manually in over 40,000 laboratories throughout the world.

QIAcube creates a new dimension of utility and opportunities to free up time, reduce costs and increase performance for customers in any laboratory in research, applied testing and molecular diagnostics. The platform will be launched for use with over 100 protocols which address almost any need in sample processing. The protocols are based on the identical QIAGEN consumable products used manually today – enabling fast and effortless migration of existing QIAGEN consumable users to the QIAcube.

The QIAcube was created to allow a new level of ease of use and is priced at a fraction of current instrumentation products. With QIAcube, QIAGEN is launching an extremely versatile, compact system in the low to medium throughput range. The QIAcube therefore expands QIAGEN’s current portfolio of automation platforms which address mid and high throughput needs as well as certain specialized applications. The QIAcube’s ease of use, throughput and application bandwidth, and value profile make it a very attractive solution for every laboratory conducting molecular biology.

Sample processing is a critical step in any sample analysis and is performed in every laboratory conducting molecular biology. Hundreds of different sample processing applications exist – depending on the sample and the target analyte (i.e., different forms of DNA, RNA, proteins, etc.). QIAGEN, the market and technology leader in sample technologies, offers by far the broadest portfolio of consumables addressing these applications. Several hundred proprietary technologies incorporated in QIAGEN consumables allow the highest levels of quality and performance. By running the same QIAGEN consumables on the QIAcube, users can free up significant time and enjoy even higher performances of already proven standards.

“QIAcube is a revolutionary new platform which marks a new era of possibilities and efficiencies in sample processing,” said Peer Schatz, Chief Executive Officer of QIAGEN. “ The QIAcube allows users to enjoy an even higher level of value of our QIAGEN consumable products. It offers extensive capabilities in sample processing and is offered for use with over 100 existing standard QIAGEN protocols. The QIAcube also presents a level of user-friendliness previously unseen in our industry. These factors as well as its price which makes it accessible to any laboratory, give QIAcube the potential to become a core platform in research, applied testing and molecular diagnostics laboratories.”



About QIAcube:



* Target customers: Over 40,000 laboratories in research, applied testing and molecular diagnostics
* Applications: low- to medium throughput (up to 12 samples per run) >100 spin-column based protocols for DNA, RNA, protein sample processing
* Developed by QIAGEN: includes proprietary technologies
* Size / weight: 65 cm (25.5 in) X 57 cm (22.4 in) X 62 cm (24.4 in) / 70.5 kg (155 lbs)
* Pictures are available at http://www.qiagen.com/goto/qiacubeimages/



QIAcube is intended for laboratory use only. No claim of representation is intended for its use to provide information for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of a disease.

About QIAGEN:

QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands holding company, is the leading provider of innovative sample and assay technologies and products. The products are considered standards in areas such as pre-analytical sample preparation and molecular diagnostics solutions. QIAGEN has developed a comprehensive portfolio of more than 500 proprietary, consumable products and automated solutions for sample collection, nucleic acid and protein handling, separation, and purification and open and target specific assays. The company’s products are sold to academic research markets, to leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, to applied testing customers (such as in forensics, veterinary, biodefense and industrial applications) as well as to molecular diagnostics laboratories. QIAGEN employs more than 1,900 people worldwide. QIAGEN products are sold through a dedicated sales force and a global network of distributors in more than 40 countries. Further information about QIAGEN can be found at www.qiagen.com .

Certain of the statements contained in this news release may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. To the extent that any of the statements contained herein relating to QIAGEN’s products, markets, strategy or operating results are forward-looking, such statements are based on current expectations that involve a number of uncertainties and risks. Such uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, risks associated with management of growth and international operations (including the effects of currency fluctuations and risks of dependency on logistics), variability of operating results, the commercial development of the applied testing markets, clinical research markets and proteomics markets, nucleic acid-based molecular diagnostics market, and genetic vaccination and gene therapy markets, competition, rapid or unexpected changes in technologies, fluctuations in demand for QIAGEN’s, products ( including fluctuations due to the level and timing of customers’ funding, budgets, and other factors ), our ability to obtain regulatory approval of our infectious disease panels, difficulties in successfully adapting QIAGEN’s products to integrated solutions and producing such products, the ability of QIAGEN to identify and develop new products and to differentiate its products from competitors’ products, market acceptance of QIAGEN’s new products and the integration of acquisitions of technologies and businesses. For further information, refer to the discussions in reports that QIAGEN has filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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