Terms of the original agreement gave Abbott distribution rights to an undisclosed number of real-time PCR diagnostic tests for use on Applied Biosystems detection instruments. The PCR assays were developed by Artus, a company Qiagen recently acquired.
Under the extended agreement, Abbott will have non-exclusive distribution rights to certain other Qiagen products, including infectious disease tests for hepatitis B, Epstein-Barr virus, Varicella-Zoster virus, Parvo B19 virus, cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus, and enterovirus. These products "complement" tests developed and manufactured by Abbott and Celera Diagnostics, Qiagen said in a statement.