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TWST: Shall we start with a quick introduction and historical sketch of QIAGEN (NasdaqNM:QGENF)?

Mr. Schatz: QIAGEN is the world’s leading provider of enabling technologies, which are used for the handling, separation and purification of genetic information, DNA or RNA. Our tools are used by researchers and diagnostic laboratories throughout the world as well as in certain manufacturing environments. They allow our customers to take raw biological samples -- cells, blood, tissues or similar – and, using our products, extract the genetic information (the DNA or RNA) out of these raw biological samples and purify it. Only extracted and purified genetic information can be analyzed, modified or be further processed. We are therefore upstream to most of the other tool suppliers to the industry and have created a very strong leadership in that sector.

TWST: Can you provide an update on how the last nine months or so since we last spoke have progressed for the company? What have been the important market developments and how has QIAGEN fared?

Mr. Schatz: After September 11th and the following recession, the life science supply industry in general has been impacted from various sides. However, its fundamentals are quite strong and the long term outlook is superb. The business has continued to grow very rapidly after the first quarter. Our core business, our tools for the purification, separation and handling of DNA, grew about 22%. This growth rate is generally expected to continue and is quite significant considering that the academic market as well as pharmaceutical companies have lowered their spending growth in the fourth quarter and first quarter of this year.

TWST: What has been key to driving that 22% growth?

Mr. Schatz: 50% of our customer base is in the academic environment. Academic laboratory, universities and laboratories in similar environments typically are dependent on public funding. This public funding is growing quite rapidly. The US public fund sources have recorded an increase of approximately 15%, sometimes even higher growth rates compared to the prior year. So that is a very attractive and rapidly growing source of funding and by far the most significant in terms of our industry exposure. Following the September 11th impact, there were some delays in these budget’s approvals, but that’s all been clarified and actually now it’s evident that these public budgets are growing more rapidly than initially anticipated. The pharmaceutical companies are about 35% of the customer group at QIAGEN and they have been growing quite rapidly over the past 10 years, more than doubling their research budgets. The growth rate has been slower in the first and second quarter of this year, but it is expected to accelerate again in the near future. This slowing relates to certain pipeline problems that some companies have, but the long terms outlook remain solid. The third group of our customers are the biotech companies representing about 15% of our sales. In this area we are seeing a quite tangible, reliable and strong growth typically fueled by the hundreds and thousands of small biotech companies still having a quite significant cash position, , and are well funded for many years, despite the stock markets being quite weak.