Qiagen reaches sales milestone for digene HPV tests

Qiagen has announced it has delivered 75 million digene HPV tests, achieving a milestone for the life sciences company.

Earlier this week, the firm revealed that it has sent out a significant number of tests as a result of the growing demand for the cervical cancer screening programmes worldwide, driving demand for the digene HC2 HPV test.

It remains the "gold standard" in helping to protect women against cervical cancer as it screens for human papillomavirus (HPV), the main cause of the disease.

Chief executive officer of Qiagen Peer Schatz said: "The delivery of 75 million digene HPV tests is a great success and marks a milestone in the struggle to eliminate cervical cancer."

This success follows the news that Qiagen achieved net sales of $264.3 million (160.48 million pounds) for the first three months of the year, a similar result to the amount gained during the same period in 2010.