June 18, 2009 (FinancialWire) — Qiagen N.V. (NASDAQ: QGEN) (Frankfurt: QIA) has signed an agreement to transfer distribution rights on July 1, 2009 for the Olerup SSP(r) product line and the related assets to Olerup International AB, a subsidiary of LinkMed (NASDAQ: LMED), a Swedish venture capital company specializing in life sciences.

The Olerup SSP(r) product line includes molecular transplantation testing products used for DNA HLA typing. Qiagen will retain rights to all Olerup SSP(r) assays for applications outside transplantation testing, such as in personalized medicine. The transaction does not affect Qiagen’s presence in new sequencing-based typing assays in the area of transplantation. As part of the transaction, Qiagen will transfer all assets related to its Olerup SSP(r) HLA sales infrastructure to LinkMed, including office infrastructure in Austria. LinkMed will assume this office’s staff of eight employees.

According to the agreement, Qiagen will continue to have distribution rights to Olerup SSP(r) products that can be used in applications outside transplantation testing, such as the rapidly emerging use of such products in personalized medicine. Such tests include, among others, the typing of the HLA-B*5701 allele — a test to assess the risk of AIDS patients for severe adverse reactions to the widely prescribed HIV drug component Abacavir. The agreement also includes options for Qiagen to distribute future Olerup SSP(r) assays for pharmacogenetic applications.

Qiagen N.V., a Netherlands holding company, is a leading global provider of sample and assay technologies.

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