Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Qiagen NV, the Dutch biotechnology company that has spent about $2 billion on acquisitions since 2004, is armed for yet more takeovers as it seeks additional gene-based tools to predict disease.

Qiagen, based in Venlo, the Netherlands, has almost $1 billion in available funds and is in talks that may lead to another purchase this year, Chief Financial Officer Roland Sackers said in a Nov. 13 interview at its Hilden, Germany, site. The company may also spend $200 million to $500 million on deals next year, buying more companies than in 2009 as prices decline, he said.

“Now is a good time because we have seen that prices in areas we are looking for such as molecular diagnostics and applied testing have become more attractive than 12 to 18 months ago,” Sackers said. “Prices in the private sector normally take time to adjust to public levels.”

Qiagen on Sept. 22 agreed to buy closely-held DxS Ltd. of the U.K. for as much as $130 million, a purchase it expects to add $30 million to 2010 sales. This month it agreed to buy SABiosciences Corp. of the U.S. in a deal valued at $90 million. The $1.4 billion takeover of Digene Corp. in 2007, the company’s biggest acquisition, opened the door to the growing market for tests to detect the virus that causes cervical cancer.

The expansion has helped boost Qiagen’s annual sales, which may pass $1 billion for the first time this year, according to some analyst estimates. Profit may increase 23 percent to $192.5 million, according to the average of 23 estimates.

Shares Advance

Qiagen, which has traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market and in Frankfurt since 1996, funded the DxS purchase through a stock offering in September, raising about $640 million. Its shares have advanced almost 30 percent this year, more than twice the rate of the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index.

Qiagen gets about half of its sales from molecular diagnostics, or the measurement of genetic material to detect disease and gene mutations. Its products are used in routine tests for influenza, including swine flu, and to identify the human papillomavirus, or HPV. The kits are also used to select the appropriate therapy.

HPV, a group of more than 100 viruses, is the primary cause of cervical cancer and the most common sexually transmitted infection in the U.S. It’s estimated that 1 in 145 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Raised Forecast

Sales from the kits helped Qiagen to a third-quarter profit of $53.5 million, compared with $42.4 million a year earlier. The diagnostics company increased its earnings forecast for the year when it reported the results on Nov. 9.

The company generates more than 10 percent of its sales in Asia, where revenue increased 37 percent in the third quarter at constant exchange rates. Sales from the region may rise to about 20 percent of Qiagen’s total over the next three to five years, Sackers said. The biggest contribution is from China where sales are expected to grow by about 50 percent each year, he added.

Qiagen is seeking to expand in areas such as South America and Asia, Sackers said. Growth in Asia is being fuelled by testing for infectious diseases such as HIV, HPV, the H1N1 virus behind the swine flu pandemic, and avian flu. Qiagen is also benefiting from drugmakers investing in the region, and an increased focus on public health care is bolstering demand for the Dutch company’s products, he said.

India

“It’s a very good target for us, and India is clearly one of the areas where we would like to get a stronger focus,” Sackers said.

Qiagen sees no signs that it’s losing market share to rival HPV products in the U.S., Sackers said.

“What differentiates us from all other companies in our industry is a very solid double-digit organic growth rate year over year,” he said. “The gap between us and the average performance of our industry has gotten wider and wider.”

Hologic Inc., based in Bedford, Massachusetts, in March won U.S. regulatory approval for two screening tests for cervical cancer. Qiagen in April lost a U.S. appeals court bid to revive a patent-infringement claim against Hologic’s Third Wave Technologies unit. Qiagen’s Digene unit sued Third Wave in 2007, claiming infringement of a patent for a test to detect HPV.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dermot Doherty in Geneva at ddoherty9@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 17, 2009 18:01 EST