German Association of Gynecology and Obstetrics...

Venlo,  The  Netherlands,  August  4,  2008  -  New  cervical  cancer
prevention guidelines issued by the German Association for Gynecology
and Obstetrics (DGGG)  recommend testing  women 30 and  over for  HPV
(human papillomavirus) -  the primary cause  of cervical cancer.  The
guidelines recommend that HPV testing  be performed along with a  Pap
smear for women  30 and older.  The digene®   HPV Test, developed  by
QIAGEN (NASDAQ: QGEN; Frankfurt,  Prime Standard: QIA), is  currently
the only HPV test approved  by regulatory authorities in both  Europe
and the United States.

"Our recommendations recognize the large number of scientific studies
that demonstrate greater  accuracy in  identifying women  at risk  of
having or developing cervical cancer, when a Pap is combined with the
HPV test, rather than relying on  a Pap smear alone," says  Professor
Klaus Friese,  lead author  of the  new guidelines  and professor  of
gynecology at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. "By  using
both tests  for women  30  and over,  when  cervical cancer  is  most
common, we hope to greatly reduce  the number of women suffering  and
dying from this disease."

The DGGG guidelines specifically conclude that the sensitivity of the
Hybrid Capture® II (HC2)  technology used by the  digene HPV Test  is
comparable to PCR, the standard technology used in molecular testing.
However, say the guidelines, the specificity (association with actual
disease) of HC2 is greater than that for PCR.

Every year, cervical  cancer affects nearly  500,000 women  worldwide
and, after  breast cancer,  is the  second-most-common malignancy  in
women. In Germany,  6,200 women  are diagnosed with  the disease  and
1,800 die from it each year. It is estimated that 80 percent of women
will get  an HPV  infection at  some point  in their  lives. In  most
cases, the infection is cleared by the immune system or is suppressed
without causing problems. However, in others, the infection persists,
leading to abnormal cell changes and disease. Early detection  allows
early treatment, ideally before  cancer develops.

The digene  HPV  Test  has  been validated  in  global  studies  that
included more than 300,000  women. It has been  approved by the  U.S.
Food and  Drug Administration,  is CE-marked  in Europe  and is  also
licensed for sale in many other countries. In Germany, the digene HPV
Test is  reimbursed by  most private  health insurances  for  routine
screening. Many experts hope that public health insurance will  cover
HPV testing in the future for primary screening in conjunction with a
Pap. One pilot screening program  already initiated is a  partnership
between public health  insurer Deutsche BKK,  the Wolfsburg  clinical
centre and  gynecologists in  private practice  in the  city. In  the
program, Deutsche BKK  covers the cost  of the digene  HPV Test as  a
screening test for  participants 30 years  and older, in  conjunction
with a Pap.

"Unlike other  cancers,  cervical  cancer is  virtually  100  percent
preventable - if women and their healthcare providers have access  to
the HPV Test and  other new advances in  preventive care," says  Peer
Schatz,  CEO  of  QIAGEN.  "The   new  guidelines  from  the   German
Association of Gynecology and Obstetrics will play a valuable role in
helping physicians -  and through them,  their patients -  understand
the most effective methods for making  this disease a tragedy of  the
past. QIAGEN welcomes  the new  guidelines published by  the DGGG  in
Germany, a country with a population  of more than 80 million and  in
which the company has a strong presence."

About QIAGEN:
QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands holding  company, is the leading  provider
of sample and  assay technologies.  Sample technologies  are used  to
isolate and process  DNA, RNA, and  proteins from biological  samples
such as blood  or tissue. Assay  technologies are used  to make  such
isolated biomolecules visible. QIAGEN has developed and markets  more
than 500 consumable products as well as automated solutions for  such
consumables.  The  company   provides  its   products  to   molecular
diagnostics laboratories,  academic researchers,  pharmaceutical  and
biotechnology companies, and applied  testing customers for  purposes
such as forensics, animal or food testing, and pharmaceutical process
control. QIAGEN's assay technologies include what is considered to be
the broadest panel of molecular diagnostic tests available worldwide.
This  panel   includes  the   only   FDA-approved  test   for   human
papillomavirus (HPV), the  primary cause of  cervical cancer.  QIAGEN
employs more than 2,800 people  in more than 30 locations  worldwide.
Further    information    about    QIAGEN    can    be    found    at


http://www.qiagen.com/.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
Certain of  the statements  contained  in this  news release  may  be
considered forward-looking statements within  the meaning of  Section
27A of the U.S. Securities Act  of 1933, as amended, and Section  21E
of the  U.S. Securities  Exchange Act  of 1934,  as amended.  To  the
extent that  any  of  the statements  contained  herein  relating  to
QIAGEN's  products,  markets,  strategy  or  operating  results   are
forward-looking, such statements  are based  on current  expectations
that involve a number of uncertainties and risks. Such  uncertainties
and risks  include, but  are not  limited to,  risks associated  with
management of  growth  and international  operations  (including  the
effects  of  currency  fluctuations   and  risks  of  dependency   on
logistics),  variability   of  operating   results,  the   commercial
development of the applied testing markets, clinical research markets
and proteomics  markets,  nucleic  acid-based  molecular  diagnostics
market,  and   genetic   vaccination  and   gene   therapy   markets,
competition,   rapid   or   unexpected   changes   in   technologies,
fluctuations in demand for QIAGEN's, products (including fluctuations
due to the level and timing of customers' funding, budgets, and other
factors), our ability to obtain regulatory approval of our infectious
disease  panels,  difficulties  in  successfully  adapting   QIAGEN's
products to  integrated solutions  and producing  such products,  the
ability of  QIAGEN  to  identify  and develop  new  products  and  to
differentiate  its  products   from  competitors'  products,   market
acceptance of QIAGEN's new products  and the integration of  acquired
technologies and businesses.  For further information,  refer to  the
discussions in reports that QIAGEN  has filed with, or furnished  to,
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
                                 ###

Contacts:


Investor Relations    Media Relations

Europe:               Europe:
+ 49 2103 29 11710    [phone]

USA:                  USA:
+ 1 301 944 7028      [phone]

E-mail: [e-mail] E-mail: [e-mail]