QIAGEN Establishes Subsidiary in Italy

<%=company1%> (Venlo, The Netherlands) announced plans to set up a wholly owned subsidiary in Italy. The establishment of this distribution subsidiary will allow QIAGEN to address the Italian market directly though its own sales force and is thereby intended to increase QIAGEN's presence and strategic position in this significant market.

The market potential in Italy for molecular biology related products is believed to be approximately 2% of the world-wide market potential. Since QIAGEN's 1999 revenues in Italy as a percentage of overall consolidated revenues of QIAGEN are lower than 2%, the Company anticipates that starting in 2001, this new Italian subsidiary can have a positive contribution to QIAGEN's revenue growth. QIAGEN expects that the Italian subsidiary may also have a positive contribution to net income after a net start-up expense of approximately $400,000, which will be recorded mostly in the second and third quarter of 2000.

"We are excited to be entering the Italian market with this new wholly-owned subsidiary which will be located in Milan. In addition to our major bases in the United States and Germany, QIAGEN today already operates successful distribution subsidiaries in Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Australia and Canada," said Donald E. Schoeny, QIAGEN's Vice President - Commercial Operations. "The Italian market is both in terms of size and strategic importance a significant market place for molecular biology related applications and we are looking forward to serving our Italian customers directly with our focused and highly skilled sales force."

<%=company1%>, a Netherlands holding company with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Australia and Canada, believes it is the world's leading provider of innovative enabling technologies and products for the separation, purification and handling of nucleic acids. The company has developed a comprehensive portfolio of more than 280 proprietary, consumable products for nucleic acid separation, purification and handling, nucleic acid amplification, as well as automated instrumentation and related services. QIAGEN's products are sold in more than 42 countries throughout the world to academic research markets and to leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. In addition, the company is positioning its products for sale into developing commercial markets, including DNA sequencing and genomics, nucleic acid-based molecular diagnostics, and genetic vaccination and gene therapy. QIAGEN employs approximately 1,000 people worldwide.