Qiagen has announced the expansion of its strategic partnership with Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz, the leading provider of vaccines and diagnostics to the Brazilian Ministry of Health.

The partnership, initiated in 2009, supported Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz with reagents and instruments for testing samples for HIV and hepatitis C virus. With the expansion of this collaboration, Bio-Manguinhos is now able to launch an advanced PCR-based molecular screening platform to detect malaria alongside HIV, hepatitis B and C virus (HBV and HCV), a capability previously unavailable in Brazil’s blood donation programme.

It also supports epidemiological surveillance of Brazil’s ongoing dengue epidemic by composing Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz dengue molecular kits based on unique chemistry developed by Qiagen and Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz. Qiagen will supply critical molecular biology technologies, custom solutions, and comprehensive training to facilitate Brazil’s public health initiative.

The advanced Brazilian Nucleic Acid Test (NAT Plus) platform, leveraging Qiagen’s PCR reagents, was recently rolled out as part of Brazil’s national blood screening programme. Initiated in 2010, this is the largest blood donation safety initiative in the country’s history. Every year, five million blood donations are performed in Brazil, with 70% conducted by public blood banks.

This latest advancement improves transfusional safety by detecting malaria and closing the “diagnostic window” between the time of infection and laboratory diagnosis. It is currently operational in 30 laboratories and is critical to safeguarding blood supplies in regions where these diseases are not endemic.