23 May 2019 - - Dutch life science company Qiagen N.V.'s (NYSE: QGEN) QuantiFERON-TB Access, a new solution under development for diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection in low-resource regions with a high disease burden of tuberculosis, will be recognized by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) at the organisation's Health Innovation Exchange from May 21-23 in Geneva, Switzerland, the company said.

The event will be held during the World Health Assembly and brings together ministers of health, nonprofits and industry to spotlight innovations with potential to change the world's health landscape and benefit sustainable development.

QuantiFERON-TB Access (QFT Access) is a proprietary new test designed to advance tuberculosis control in areas with limited infrastructure, including countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The World Health Organization has classified 30 countries in these regions as high-burden, representing an estimated 85% of the global TB burden.

QFT Access pairs highly sensitive digital detection with a complete workflow created to deliver cost-efficient results quickly and with unmatched simplicity. It eliminates the need for an extensive laboratory infrastructure while providing best-in-class QuantiFERON technology.

Clinical trials are being conducted in 2019, and commercialization of QFT Access is expected to begin in 2020.

Qiagen is developing QuantiFERON-TB Access in partnership with Ellume, an Australian developer of digitally-enabled diagnostics.

QFT Access is a single visit, single tube test using 1 ml blood test that is scalable. It is not impacted by BCG vaccination, which can cause false-positive results with the tuberculin skin test used in many low-resource settings.

QFT Access requires less than five minutes of hands-on time from a technician or phlebotomist. The result can be digitally displayed on a portable device or, optionally, connected to a computer for printout or electronic transmission.

The system does not require maintenance or calibration, and it minimizes the impact of power loss or dust.