Qiagen is working around the clock at its global manufacturing facilities to dramatically ramp up global production capacity of RNA extraction kits that are used as part of workflows around the world to detect nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

In Germantown, Maryland, where test kits are now being assembled 24/7, an approximately 188,000-square-foot expansion is in the works and awaiting permit approval to increase research and development and production capacity. Thermo Fisher Scientific has agreed to acquire Qiagen, and the transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2021.