Utrecht (the Netherlands) – On April 26th, QIAGEN granted GenDx the non-exclusive rights to distribute world-wide, both direct and via third parties, the QIAGEN LongRange PCR kit in combination with the SBTexcellerator ® reagents for high

resolution HLA typing. This elevates the cooperation between QIAGEN and GenDx and shows the commitment of both companies to facilitate the tissue typing community world wide with the highest quality products.

The QIAGEN LongRange PCR kit in combination with the GenDx SBTexcellerator® reagents enables amplification of the HLA genes beyond the classic exon 2, 3 and 4 regions. Thereby, other important regions of the HLA genes can also be identified by sequencing. This provides tissue typers the ultimate tools to achieve the highest resolution of HLA typing and minimize the number of ambiguities.

Wietse Mulder, Managing Director of GenDx commented: “This distribution agreement enables GenDx and her partners to even better fulfil the requirements of our customers worldwide to efficiently obtain reliable HLA-typing results.”

About HLA typing

In stem cell transplantation, small differences between Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) alleles from the donor and recipient may have serious effects as the transplanted stem cells will form the new immune system of the patient. This new immune system migrates through the entire body and is not confined to a specific tissue like it is in solid organs. High-resolution HLA typing of the patient and donor is therefore required before transplantation.

Sequencing Based Typing (SBT) is the golden standard for high-resolution HLA typing, as the technique uses the actual DNA sequence of a sample. SBT can identify all HLA alleles that can be discriminated based on nucleotide differences within the region amplified. SBT is also the only technique capable of identifying and characterize new alleles.

About GenDx

GenDx is an ISO13485 certified Dutch molecular diagnostics company focused on development, production and sales of innovative assays and analysis software for transplantation medicine and companion diagnostics. In addition, GenDx offers custom laboratory services for basic and clinical research organisations. GenDx organises dedicated SBT training courses worldwide on a regular basis for personnel of tissue typing laboratories, blood banks and donor registries. GenDx is a spin-off of the University Medical Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands, and was founded in 2005 by Dr. Erik Rozemuller, Dr. Wietse Mulder and University Medical Centre Utrecht participaties BV. Further information on GenDx can be found at www.gendx.com.

GenDx and the German biotech company QIAGEN have been working together since August 2006 on the development and commercialization of new product lines in HLA testing. QIAGEN operates thereby as a distributor of the GenDx SBT reagent line SBTexcellerator® and SBTengine®, a sophisticated software package for HLA sequencing analysis.