Qiagen Begins Work on $50 Million North American Headquarters; Montgomery County Facility to Serve Biotech Industry

Header--Montgomery County, Maryland. Press Releases

ma/Qiagen.pr 00-113

Contact: Sheila H. Khatri (240) 777-2020
Kristina Ellis (240) 777-2024
Charles Maier (301) 929-1429

For Immediate Release: March 22, 2000

Qiagen Begins Work on $50 Million North American Headquarters;
Montgomery County Facility to Serve Biotech Industry

Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan joined state and local officials in saluting the latest entry into Montgomery County's biotechnology hotbed today, welcoming German-based QIAGEN Sciences, Inc. to a strategic location along the I-270 Technology Corridor. QIAGEN officials are building a state-of-the-art, $50 million, 190,000 square foot campus-style facility which will employ more than 300 people. Duncan and QIAGEN officials were joined by Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend; Richard C. Mike Lewin, secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development; County Council President Mike Subin and Noreen Lyne, provost of Montgomery College's Germantown campus.

"We are very pleased to have a dynamic biotechnology company like QIAGEN Sciences as our newest neighbor in the I-270 Technology Corridor," said Duncan. "With its arrival the County, and in particular, Germantown is adding to its reputation as a global biotechnology leader."

Duncan also noted that new development is springing up throughout Germantown, including a long-awaited Town Center, the Black Rock Center for the Arts and the SoccerPlex complex he championed.

"Having QIAGEN choose this wonderful site in Germantown is a tremendous gain for the entire state of Maryland," said Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, chair of the Cabinet Council on Business and Economic Development. "Their presence here in the state exemplifies our position as a leading location throughout the world for biotechnology."

Duncan and other officials followed their remarks with a ceremonial groundbreaking, officially marking the start of construction of QIAGEN's new North American headquarters. QIAGEN serves customer needs with research, genomics, diagnostics and gene therapy. Initial manufacturing activities are expected to begin in the second half of 2001, with full operations to begin in 2002. The facility will include research and development, manufacturing and administrative offices.

"This location provides an excellent environment for expanding QIAGEN'S R&D program," said Michael W. Burgett, QIAGEN's vice president of operations. "As in our other operations, we intend to combine our expertise and manufacturing with state-of-the-art technology and quality standards to serve the needs of our customers."

Maryland and Montgomery County officials had been negotiating with QIAGEN for nearly a year, before the firm announced earlier this month that it had selected Montgomery County for its North American headquarters. It is the latest international firm to join a growing number of technology companies that have chosen to locate along the I-270 Technology Corridor, including Shire Laboratories of the U.K. and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals of Japan.

"Students enrolled in the biotech program at our Germantown campus are being snapped up by local biotech firms soon after they graduate," said Noreen Lyne, provost of Montgomery College at Germantown. "The arrival of QIAGEN presents additional opportunities for our students, helping further develop the County's superior workforce." QIAGEN'S 18-acre site is just two miles from Montgomery College in Germantown, across from the MARC train station.

QIAGEN is among the world's leading providers of innovative enabling technologies and products for the separation, purification and handling of nucleic acids. QIAGEN'S products are sold in more than 42 countries throughout the world to academic research markets and to leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The company is also positioning its products for sale into developing commercial markets, including DNA sequencing and genomics, nucleic acid-based molecular diagnostics, and genetic vaccination and gene therapy. QIAGEN employs approximately 1,000 people worldwide. QIAGEN N.V. is a publicly traded company: Nasdaq: OGENF and Neuer Markt: QIA.

# # #

News Releases | News