QIAGEN (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) today announced a major milestone, surpassing 1,000 placements of its EZ2 Connect automated sample preparation instrument, a key advancement in the EZ1 instrument line.
Launched in 2021, the EZ2 Connect has quickly become a leading instrument in sample preparation and data management, with over 1,000 units placed globally. This milestone contributes to a total of more than 5,500 EZ series instruments in use worldwide.
The EZ2 Connect automates the entire nucleic acid purification process, reducing hands-on time and increasing throughput, while maintaining high precision and reproducibility. This automation allows researchers to focus on data analysis and interpretation, rather than on repetitive sample processing. The system is ideal for laboratories handling medium sample volumes for applications in digital PCR, next-generation sequencing (NGS), and other molecular biology research.
“We are thrilled to reach over 1,000 placements of the EZ2 Connect, which highlights the confidence our customers have in QIAGEN’s automation solutions,” said Nitin Sood, Senior Vice President, Head of the Life Sciences Business Area at QIAGEN. “Our goal is to continue providing advanced automation that reduces manual tasks, allowing researchers to dedicate more time to analysis. With our broad consumables portfolio, we’re supporting research across a wide range of applications.”
The EZ2 Connect portfolio includes instruments and kits designed for:
- Broad sample compatibility: supporting tissue, liquid biopsies, FFPE (Formalin-Fixed Paraffin Embedded Tissue), cultured cells, and more
- Versatile downstream analyses: purified nucleic acids can be used in digital PCR (dPCR), quantitative PCR (qPCR), and NGS
- Multiple instrument versions: including EZ2 Connect MDx for diagnostic and clinical labs, and EZ2 Connect FX for forensic applications, with human ID and forensic protocols
- Diverse applications: supporting diagnostics, cancer genomics, molecular epidemiology, and forensics
QIAGEN also plans to launch additional kits in 2025, including a kit for RNA isolation from blood samples and two new kits for forensic applications.
The company has also introduced the EZ2 PowerFecal Pro DNA/RNA Kit, which reduces hands-on time to just 27 minutes—significantly shorter than many comparable kits. This efficient kit enables microbial DNA, RNA, or total nucleic acid isolation from stool samples, advancing research in the growing field of gut microbiome studies. This research helps to understand the role of gut bacteria in various health conditions such as metabolic processes, immune function, and disease progression.
QIAGEN continues to expand its portfolio of automated solutions for microbiome research, offering comprehensive sample preparation, automation, and downstream processing technologies, such as dPCR, qPCR, and NGS. With robust bioinformatics tools, QIAGEN empowers researchers to explore new insights in human health and disease.
The company’s expanding suite of automated sample preparation instruments aims to support greater efficiency and consistency in research labs, helping scientists generate high-quality results across the life sciences.
About QIAGEN
QIAGEN N.V., based in the Netherlands, is a global leader in providing Sample to Insight solutions that enable molecular insights from biological samples. QIAGEN’s technologies isolate DNA, RNA, and proteins from various materials, while its assay technologies make these biomolecules ready for analysis. The company offers bioinformatics software and automation solutions, streamlining workflows for molecular diagnostics and life sciences. Serving over 500,000 customers worldwide, QIAGEN operates in over 35 locations globally.
