Digene Corporation was a

molecular diagnostics Molecular diagnostics is a collection of techniques used to analyze biological markers in the genome and proteome, and how their cells express their genes as proteins, applying molecular biology to medical tests, medical testing. In medicine th ...

company with company headquarters in

Gaithersburg, Maryland Gaithersburg ( ) is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, making it the third-largest incorporated city and the ninth-most populous communit ...

, U.S. Floyd Taub, M.D, founded the company in 1984 and it was incorporated in 1985. He established identifying specific types of

human papillomavirus Human papillomavirus infection (HPV infection) is caused by a DNA virus from the ''Papillomaviridae'' family. Many HPV infections cause no symptoms and 90% resolve spontaneously within two years. In some cases, an HPV infection persists and r ...

as the companies chief project in 1986. He guided the company through development of unique methods to do this and Digene's acquisition of the Molecular Diagnostics division of Life Technologies. In 1988, this group had created the first diagnostic test for

, and gained

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

approval for this test requiring radioactive reagents.The test was named ViraPap. Life Technologies, had been formed by the merger of GIBCO and Bethesda Research Laboratories in 1983. Clinical uptake of ViraPap was slow, and Life sold the test and associated intellectual property to Digene in 1990, soon after Digene was acquired by the Whitehead group. Digene's history in non-radioactive detection methods allowed it to modify the test to not require radioactive materials. This modified hybrid capture HPV test became Digene's most important product line. In 2007,

Qiagen QIAGEN N.V. is a German-founded multinational provider of sample and assay technologies for molecular diagnostics, applied testing, academic research, and pharmaceutical research. The company operates in more than 35 offices in over 25 countries ...

bought the company for US$1.6 billion.

References

{{Reflist Biotechnology companies of the United States Defunct companies based in Maryland Companies based in Gaithersburg, Maryland Biotechnology companies established in 1984 Biotechnology companies disestablished in 2007 1984 establishments in Maryland 2007 disestablishments in Maryland 2007 mergers and acquisitions