QIAGEN N.V. announced that the German Federal Patent Court (Bundespatentgericht) has ruled in its favor in a patent dispute against SD Biosensor, reaffirming the validity of an important patent protecting key innovations in its QuantiFERON technology.

This ruling underscores the strength of QIAGEN’s QuantiFERON intellectual property portfolio and protects the scientific advancements that have made QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus the global standard for latent TB testing.

“This decision involving an important patent for QuantiFERON reaffirms our ongoing commitment to delivering high-quality, science-driven solutions that improve health for patients around the world. QIAGEN will continue to invest heavily into novel solutions while also vigorously defending its innovations and investments,” said Thierry Bernard, CEO of QIAGEN.

The court’s decision upholds QIAGEN’s intellectual property rights involving the German part of European Patent EP 3 421 997, which protects key innovations in tuberculosis detection. Patents covering these innovations have been issued to QIAGEN in several other countries, and form part of a group of more than 120 patents currently issued for QuantiFERON.

QFT-TB Gold Plus offers superior accuracy, reliability, and ease of use compared to traditional skin testing methods and plays a key role in significantly improving TB control efforts globally. It is recommended by major health organizations worldwide, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for identifying individuals at risk of developing active tuberculosis.

Latent TB infection occurs when a person is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis but does not show symptoms. Unlike active TB, where the bacteria multiply and cause illness, in latent TB, the bacteria remain dormant in the body. People with latent TB do not feel sick and cannot spread the disease to others, but they are at risk of developing active TB if their immune system weakens. Screening and treatment of latent TB are crucial for preventing the progression to active TB and controlling the spread of the disease.