QIAGEN Inks Distribution Deal With Mckesson Medical-Surgical

QIAGEN N.V. (NYSE:QGEN) recently announced that it has inked an agreement with McKesson Medical-Surgical Inc. Mckesson Corporation’s (NYSE:MCK) affiliate will serve as the exclusive distributor of QIAGEN’s QIAstat-Dx syndromic testing solution in the acute market segment of U.S. hospitals, which have 200 beds or less. Mckesson Medical-Surgical will also distribute the solution in other select segments. This will enable QIAGEN to expand its reach within the healthcare market.

More About the Agreement

Through the agreement, McKesson becomes a non-exclusive distributor for future expansion of QIAstat-Dx into the non-acute retail clinics in U.S. retail pharmacies. The distribution relationship reinforces QIAGEN’s sales and marketing focus on the growing syndromic market in the larger hospitals and clinical laboratories setting.

The agreement with McKesson comes after the QIAstat-Dx syndromic testing system attained 510(k) approval from the FDA. The multiplex QIAstat-Dx Respiratory Panel for simultaneous qualitative detection and identification of multiple respiratory viral and bacterial pathogens also received FDA’s nod. This comprehensive respiratory panel identifies more than 20 pathogens and is the first test in a wide array of assays planned for QIAstat-Dx in the United States. Moreover, this includes the addition of a comprehensive gastrointestinal panel later in 2019.

Market prospects

The smaller-hospital segment is rapidly growing and includes one-third of the estimated 6,000 hospitals in the United States. QIAGEN projects the total addressable market for respiratory and related syndromic testing in the acute segment at about 1.5 million tests per year. Hence, this distribution partnership has been forged at a strategic time.

Recent Developments

Currently, QIAGEN is investing in a few developments related to the QIAstat-Dx syndromic testing solution.

In April, the company announced positive data outcomes of the QIAstat-Dx Meningitis/Encephalitis panel. The preliminary data showcases accurate diagnosis of the most predominant central nervous system pathogens with high analytical sensitivity and specificity levels, including the discrimination of clinically relevant strains and subtypes.

Price Performance

The company has outperformed the industry in the past year. The stock has improved 12.3% compared with the industry’s 17.6% fall.

Zacks Rank and Key Picks

QIAGEN currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1(Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

Two better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN) and Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ:BRKR) . Each of these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Cerner’s long-term earnings growth rate is expected to be 13.5%.

Bruker’s long-term earnings growth rate is estimated at 11.7%.

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