Qiagen NV (NASDAQ:QGEN) and Centogene recently inked a co-marketing and partnership agreement which will see the two pharmaceutical firms deliver clinical testing and research solutions to customers in the rare genetic-conditions field. The agreement between the two will also see the bioinformatics suite of Qiagen integrated with rare genetic conditions variant database of Centogene which is known as CentoMD with the aim of improvising test understanding.

“By combining deep, expertly curated resources from Qiagen and Centogene, we will deliver powerful insights for researchers and clinicians and ultimately help patients and families deal with rare and hereditary disorders,” said Qiagen’s bioinformatics business head and senior vice president Laura Furmanski.

Bioinformatics solution

Once the CentoMD genotype/phenotype database is integrated the bioinformatics solution of Qiagen Clinical Insight and Qiagen Knowledge database will be considerably enhanced. The co-marketing agreement will see Qiagen acting as CentoMD’s authorized and exclusive commercial distribution partner across the globe. Additionally Centogene will license the bioinformatics solutions of Qiagen with a view to supporting the diagnostic testing services of rare diseases for the latter.

Earlier in the year Qiagen acquired OmicSoft Corporation with a view to growing its bioinformatics portfolio which provides valuable observations into sophisticated biological data. This acquisition has thus enabled Qiagen to gain access to the data-management infrastructure solutions of OmicSoft besides its data bank.

High growth

The partnership that Centogene has formed with Qiagen is strategic since bioinformatics has the potential of high growth globally. A report released by Markets and Markets indicates that the worldwide bioinformatics markets is estimated to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 21.1% between this year and 2021 and will be worth approximately $16.18 billion in four years.

The growth is being driven by an increase in healthcare spending by private organizations as well as the government. It is also being driven by rising awareness which has triggered the need for protein and nucleic acid sequencing. Additionally technological developments and innovations as well as successful partnerships being formed between research institutes and companies will also aid the growth of the bioinformatics market.

On Tuesday shares of Qiagen NV fell by 1.14% to close the day at $34.64.