Qiagen a provider of innovative enabling technologies and products for the separation, purification and handling of nucleic acids and proteins have announced that Abbott and QIAGEN have extended their existing distribution agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Abbott received distribution rights to a number of real-time PCR diagnostic tests for use on Applied Biosystems detection instruments. The PCR assays were developed by artus GmbH, a company QIAGEN recently acquired.

Under the extended agreement Abbott has non-exclusive distribution rights to certain Qiagen products, including infectious disease tests for hepatitis B virus (HBV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV), Parvo B19 virus, cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex virus (HSV) and enterovirus. These products complement a menu of tests developed and manufactured by Abbott and Celera Diagnostics.