Welcome to our spotlight session. Today, it's all about QuantiFERON, and in the next hour, you will learn more about our strategic priorities and the latest developments. Before we start, let's have a closer look into the legal disclaimer. As with any investor event, this presentation includes a safe harbor statement. You're likely familiar with this from our other presentations, so I won't read it in full. Please remember that we will be making forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected, and the factors driving those are detailed in our most recent Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A copy is also available on our website. Today, I'm not alone in the studio, and I would like to welcome our CEO, Thierry Bernard. Hello, Thierry, good to have you here. Over to you.
Thank you, Domenica, and good morning, good afternoon, good evening to all of you. Thanks again for your attention and interest in QIAGEN. A year ago, and I hope and I think that most of you attended that event. A year ago, we organized an investor relation deep dive session on QuantiFERON, and we wanted to leave you with three main messages. One, tuberculosis is still the main infectious diseases killer in the world. Remember, tuberculosis continues to kill more than HIV and malaria every year. 1.6 million of people will die every year of tuberculosis. The reservoir of active tuberculosis, latent tuberculosis, is even a greater healthcare challenge. Two billion people in the world are estimated to be impacted by latent tuberculosis. This is an incredible number. Second, QIAGEN is the undisputed leader for more than 20 years now for latent tuberculosis testing.
Despite being a leader, we have never been complacent or arrogant, and we have continuously invested into the development of our solution. First, if you remember back in 2016, the front-end automation and the unique partnership with a leading company in immunodiagnostic, DiaSorin. Second, the continuous improvement of our test itself, the kit and its chemistry, bringing the only combination, I repeat, only combination on the market of CD4 and CD8, which is so critical to be able to manage specific population of patients. Like for example, immunocompromised patient. Think about HIV patient, hepatitis patient. QuantiFERON latent TB testing is by far the most sensitive test on the market. Third improvement, after the automation of the back end of the test with DiaSorin, the automation of the front end of the test with partners like Tecan, Hamilton, two leading companies again.
The third message we wanted to leave you with a year ago was the market potential is still significant, especially the market conversion of skin test, an antiquated technology. We told you that the best, or the best estimation today are that we still have around 50 million, 50 million of tests, skin tests in the world, ready to be converted to a more modern approach like QIAGEN QuantiFERON. Just in the U.S. alone, it's 15 million-16 million of skin tests to be converted. We don't want to stand still. Today, we are coming to you to announce that three leading companies are either strengthening or creating new collaborations to bring an even better set of solutions to our customers. First, DiaSorin, our partners for quasi 10 years now.
Second, a leading company in full engineering and automation, Inpeco, and we will have their CEO, Riccardo, with us today. Third, QIAGEN, of course, continuously investing into our solution. First new innovation, and you heard about it at least in Europe, is an unprecedented improvement of the efficiency of our current test. Turnaround time, ease of use, we call it CLIA II. Already available for some months in Europe, now available as well in the U.S. Second innovation today, the first and probably only end-to-end automation, sample in, result out automation for QuantiFERON. For the first time, two companies together with DiaSorin are bringing the first full automation workflow, where a technician will just need to put a tube into the system and wait for the result.
Third, a unique and clearly only possible for QIAGEN because of 20 years of test, a unique AI investment to help doctors determining tomorrow who in the whole population of latent TB patient has the highest score to move to active TB. This is tremendously exciting. This is innovation at its best, but also it is also confirming that QIAGEN doesn't take our leadership with complacency.
Thank you, Thierry. Innovation clearly doesn't stop here. With that, let me hand over to Nadia Aelbrecht, who is going to tell more about our unique QuantiFERON ecosystem.
Hello, everybody. It's great to see you at this QuantiFERON Spotlight event. WHO has announced that by 2035 they would like to eliminate tuberculosis. You can only eliminate tuberculosis by working on your active TB cases and treat your patients, but you should also look for the reservoir, and this reservoir is latent TB or TB infection. 25% of the world population, or about two billion people, are infected with latent TB. QIAGEN estimates the global latent TB testing market at approximately 75 million tests annually, growing about 45% per year. Only about 40% of this market has been converted from traditional skin test to modern blood-based interferon gamma release assays, or IGRAs. Patients that usually get tested are immunocompromised, healthcare professionals, people that live in close relationship with an active TB patients, but also other groups. All of this together makes a market potential of $1.6 billion in 2026.
During our deep dive of QuantiFERON of last year, we told you that we would continue to invest in our QuantiFERON portfolio. This is indeed what we have done. From the beginning of the acquisition of Cellestis, QIAGEN has nonstop invested in making our QuantiFERON assay better, more specific, more automated, and more reliable. When we launched our fourth generation, we added a patented CD4/CD8 antigen technology. This has allowed us to have a more reliable assay for critical ill patients, like immunocompromised and HIV. The magic happens in the tubes. We never stopped looking in how we can further improve the test. Today, we are proud to present our next step in workflow enhancement and the creation of a QuantiFERON ecosystem for improved automation and patient management. The first improvement is the launch of a new LIAISON chemistry together with our partner, DiaSorin.
The new chemistry is designed to improve speeds, throughputs, and workflow efficiency by enabling labs to test up to 75% more patients per hour and achieving a 25% faster turnaround time compared to the previous version. It was launched in November 2025 in Europe, and recently launched in the U.S. after receiving a U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in February 2026. The feedback of our clients are very positive, and we are on track in our conversion plan between the old and the new chemistry. Latent TB testing is moving towards higher volume, more automated workflow as the market increasingly shifts from traditional skin test to modern IGRA-based detection. QIAGEN has been investing in automation for several years, partnering with companies such as Tecan and Hamilton to streamline pre-analytical steps, and with DiaSorin to automate the detection on the LIAISON platform.
We felt as the market leader that we had to go a step further and aim for a full automation, enabling labs to scale with growing demand. This is why QIAGEN, leader in blood-based latent TB testing, Inpeco, a leader in lab automation, and DiaSorin, leader in high medical value testing, have started the development of the first full automated blood-based IGRA testing platform that we plan to launch by the end of 2027. The lab technician will only need to load the samples, and all the other steps in the process will be done automatically in the right sequence and at the right time. This is the first and only blood-based IGRA test for higher volume testing that will be fully automated.
Labs face growing pressure, limited staff, rising costs, and increasing volumes. Efficient scaling of latent TB testing, essential. Three leaders meet this challenge. QIAGEN with QuantiFERON, the gold standard in modern blood-based latent TB testing, DiaSorin with its LIAISON system and chemistry, and Inpeco with deep expertise in laboratory automation. Together, they are creating a fully integrated QuantiFERON ecosystem from sample to insight. The workflow starts with one simple loading point. Whole blood samples can enter as a single tube or as a set of four QuantiFERON tubes. From there, the system creates a continuous flow from sample to result. Each sample is identified, processed in sequence, and tracked in real time. This supports traceability, compliance, and stronger process control while reducing manual touchpoints and the risk of handling errors. A key innovation is the dedicated QuantiFERON aliquoter.
It is purpose-built to handle the four QuantiFERON tubes required for each patient sample. By automating this step, the system supports consistent tube handling while preserving QuantiFERON's clinical performance, led by CD4 and CD8 immune response detection. Once blood is mixed with the antigen-coated tubes, the science of QuantiFERON begins. T-cells are activated, triggering the CD4 and CD8 responses at the core of QuantiFERON's clinical strength. Measuring both responses supports the most reliable results across patient groups. The tubes then move into a purpose-built QuantiFERON intelligent incubation system. Connected directly to the track, it enables continuous incubation instead of batch-based handling. This supports precise timing, controlled conditions, and a more efficient workflow. After incubation, samples move directly to LIAISON XL system for automated detection. The seamless integration of incubation and detection enables continuous processing, removes delays, and helps laboratories improve turnaround times and productivity.
Testing efficiently scaled up with less manual work, lower operational complexity, and scalable growth. More automation, greater scalability, faster access to reliable results. This is the next generation of blood-based latent TB testing, a continuous automated ecosystem built around the power of QuantiFERON.
With this partnership, we are leading again the next-generation blood-based IGRA testing, and we will have an automated proposal linked to the volume needs of our clients. 20 years of experience, four generation of test, multiple endorsement, and more than 2,700 publications. We are the only company that has this experience. Based on this, we are creating an AI-enabled risk stratification tool for TB progression with the goal of supporting stratification of patient at a higher risk of progression to active TB disease. With this tool, we are creating a real sample to insight QuantiFERON ecosystem. This tool will use the values of our four unique QuantiFERON tubes, along with other parameters, to deliver a more complete view of the immune response to TB.
The tool is built on one of the largest longitudinal TB clinical data sets, comprising about 13 million de-identified patient records collected over the last 10 years, and is intended to support healthcare professionals in making more informed decision, improving patient counseling, and supporting enhanced patient care. At QIAGEN, we nonstop continue to invest into QuantiFERON as we grow with our clients, and we answer the needs of this growing business.
Thank you, Nadia. Nadia will also be here with us in the studio for the Q&A. Three topics, detection, automation, and AI-enabled risk stratification. Thierry, let's focus for now on automation. For that, I would like to welcome the CEO of Inpeco, Riccardo Triunfo.
Yes, indeed. We have Riccardo with us. It's an honor, Riccardo, to have you with us this morning. Let me start with the first question. You're a leading company in engineering and lab automation. Explain to us why is end-to-end automation so critical for customers those days.
First of all, Thierry, hi, and thanks for this invitation. I think we are all proud to announce this joint impactful innovation. To answer your question, let me start from our vision. We as a company, we believe in a world where medical errors are eliminated through lab automation, software, and data traceability. We all know today labs are facing what is called a perfect storm: chronic shortage of skilled staff and a massive increase in testing volumes. End-to-end automation is, in our view, the best way to solve this. By removing manual touchpoints, we reduce the potential for errors and ensure the full traceability from the moment a sample arrives until the final result. This allow labs to scale their operation efficiently while guarantee the highest level of clinical integrity.
That's very good. Riccardo, if I may, I have a second question for you. Like us, like QIAGEN, you work every day with the biggest labs in the world, the Quest, the Labcorp, the Cerba in the world. Why do you think a purpose-built automation, full automation for QuantiFERON would make sense for those kinds of customers?
Yeah. Thanks, Thierry. I mean, makes a lot of sense because, you know, laboratory today serve a massive spectrum of needs, from small specialized labs to large centralized facilities that you mentioned with an increased sample volume. The challenge is how do they scale operations and reduce manual steps simultaneously. This is exactly where I see our partnership makes a difference. Inpeco is not just providing a track to QIAGEN. We are integrating a fully automated, a fully automation for the entire diagnostic work-workflow through our flagship automation, the FlexLab X, with new dedicated modules and software. By combining QIAGEN leading detection capabilities that we have seen with our, you know, DNA in automation, we are creating a truly integrated and fully automated solution for QuantiFERON latent TB testing.
That's really exciting.
It increases throughput and reduces end on time, you know. Let me say, more importantly, creates a super standardized, repeatable process that brings long-term value to the healthcare system and the labs across the globe.
That's really exciting. I think, Domenica, that you had another question for-
Exactly.
.....Riccardo as well.
One last question from my end, Riccardo. From an investor's perspective, and I think they will be very interested about that, by when do you think, the first systems will be up and running at our customers?
You know, Nadia, it's our commitment to move with the greatest momentum to bring, you know, this next generation system to the market. Our ambition is to have the solution fully up and running in laboratories in late 2027. Now we are in a phase where obviously we are also understanding if this can be anticipated. The forecast is late 2027. Thanks for asking.
Thanks, Riccardo.
A good thing, Domenica, to leverage a bit what Riccardo just said is that we have already, under CDA, presented together with Riccardo or sometimes separately, the solution to some key customers. What I can testify today is that the reception and also the input from those customers has been fantastic.
Thanks. As you've seen, we now also are joined by Nadia in the studio. Welcome back.
Hello, Domenica. Hello, Thierry.
We're ready now for the Q&A, and taking your questions will be Thierry and Nadia from the studio, and we also have some more speakers for you today. Welcome back, Riccardo, and we also have as a speaker Nitin Sood. You know him from our last events, Head of Product Portfolio and Innovation. We also have for you, ready to take your questions, Paramp al Deol, who is the Head of R&D Applications for QuantiFERON. Before we start, just as a quick reminder, if you haven't done so, please type in your questions into the Q&A box into the web portal, and we're very happy to take them. I think we're ready for the first question, right? Let's start with the first one.
Are there any competitors currently offering end-to-end track-based automation for latent TB testing? How differentiated is QuantiFERON's position in that area?
Well, the answer is very simple, Domenica. It's no. First of all, even as of today, with the current workflow, Tecan or Hamilton, QuantiFERON, DiaSorin, there is no comparable automation. Tomorrow, this will be unique and really specific to QuantiFERON. The answer is clearly no. It's at the moment unprecedented.
The next one, do you expect? Sorry, it jumped. Give me a second. There's lots of questions coming in.
Which is good.
That's why it's jumping, so apologies for that. Do you expect an impact of AI-enabled decision support on testing volumes or market expansion?
I'm going to ask Nitin to take that question because obviously you understand that we are taking a bet here. It's a very well-considered bet. It's a fantastic evolution because the Holy Grail in the first in the fight against TB will be that ability to detect or to predict, predictive biology, who in the population of latent TB has the most risk to go to active TB. What do you think, Nitin?
I mean, I think, first of all, I just want to emphasize the fact that only we can build this intelligence into the test, this risk-based progression score, because only we have access to these 13 million patients that have longitudinal data. You know, again, I just want to remind everyone that most people who have latent TB don't have active symptoms and may not follow through with their treatment, therefore providing this intelligence to the patient or to the physician will increase compliance to treatments. That is a big differentiator, and we absolutely hope that will allow us to expand our leadership position in the latent TB franchise.
The next one is on the partnership with Inpeco. The development of end-to-end automation solution, is it purpose-built for QuantiFERON?
It is. I would like to invite also Riccardo to give also his vision here.
Yeah, thanks for this one, Thierry. You know, while our history is completely rooted in open automation, this project has been ideated and will be developed with and for QIAGEN's specific workflow. We are developing a new aliquoter, which is, you know, specific to the testing as you have seen in the video, and an intelligent incubator that have been designed ground up specifically for the QuantiFERON test. This level of specialization, which is incorporating QIAGEN-specific configuration and workflow design, is exactly what allow us to guarantee the high level of throughput and error reduction, which is also defining our mission. That's why we are prioritizing the integrity of the specific test to ensure the highest standard of patient care, and that's why this test is specific, this automation and workflow is specific for QIAGEN. Yeah.
The next one is on partnerships, right? What drove the decision to partner with Inpeco versus QIAGEN's prior automation partners such as Tecan, Hamilton? What is the value? The next one is on AI. Let's keep it for now on Tecan, Hamilton.
On Inpeco, I think, it was a choice that became very clear to us when we decided not to think about automation in terms of adding some different instrument, but thinking from scratch and say, "Why don't we build something purposely for our test?" Therefore, Inpeco, a company that we have been respecting for so many years, and we knew that, guess what? They were present where we are present. They are present in our biggest customers. We see them every day. It was a natural partner.
Let's now move to the AI question. The value of AI-enabled risk stratification, and which segments of the testing market would this be most relevant for?
I think first we should probably give a bit of science with Paramp al on what we are trying to achieve, and then I will ask Nadia to take that question on specifically the patient population that we are targeting. Paramp al?
Thank you, Thierry. Hello, everyone. I want to say a few things. I'm so excited to say this. QIAGEN has acquired 13 million unique de-identified patient sets. QIAGEN is the only company who has this breadth of testing. These data span from 2017 onwards, it's almost a decade worth of data. The key here is a longitudinal data. That means that the patient has to be tracked over time, we need to have full history of multiple QuantiFERON tests and all other patient parameters which go with the testing to diagnose the latent TB to active TB. The value of CD4 and CD8 is so unique to QIAGEN because it gives the comprehensive view of the immune response.
These patients are already sick, and they could be immunocompromised, and this is what advantage QuantiFERON test brings to the table. That being said, these data sets are spanning from all geographic distribution of U.S. It has pediatric to geriatric population, which is so important for the TB disease, and this will allow us to have a full comprehensive view of immune response for patient at individual level. We already know that these risk factors are determined at a CDC and WHO level, at a population level, but the key is what about the patient level? That's the beauty of this risk score, risk stratification tool which we are bringing to the table.
Thank you, Paramp al. Nadia, can you say a word about what kind of patient segments would be even more interested?
Thank you, Thierry. For the patient segments, according to the guidelines, in the U.S., every latent TB patient needs to be treated. As Nitin already said, if you're not sick yourself and you need to start a treatment, sometimes it's difficult to convince the patient to be treated. This is why we hope this tool can help a clinician to show to their patient the added value of getting a treatment and why it should be done. In principle, it is going to be done for all patients that a clinician sees. We know that some people are very at risk, you know, if you take biologics and if you're immunocompromised, these are very high-risk patients. It's really to convince a patient, please follow your treatment and finish your treatment and don't stop it, because this is surely not good.
We have a couple more on AI. Maybe we stick to that for a moment. Institutional organizations like WHO migrations officers and so on will probably be very interested by the AI tool, did we already start to discuss with them and what's the input on that?
I would say that QIAGEN is first and foremost a fact-based company. We try to avoid making claims as long as we are not clearly sure that what we are saying, what we are bringing to the market is proven. Before having those organization, WHO, Stop TB, introduce, we prefer to have even better data, deeper data, and then we'll engage them. You know, those are partners of QIAGEN for so many years. Remember back in 2015 when WHO stated that latent TB was a key asset in the fight against active TB, it was after discussion and work with QIAGEN.
To stay also again with the AI tool, a question is: When is the launch date? Let's be a bit more specific on the software for predicting tuberculosis and also is it exclusively for QuantiFERON DiaSorin customers who can benefit from that AI risk stratification tool that we're launching.
I would invite, Nitin to take that question. Nitin, on the, approximate launch date and, on which kind of workflow we want to, adjust that tool.
I mean, again, that the tool is very specific to QuantiFERON, because again, it requires both CD8 and CD4, and it requires access to this longitudinal information that we have, you know, collected now through this 13 million data systems for over a decade. Very specific to us. I also just wanna highlight that we have a very cross-functional team working on this. You know, we have, you know, experts in AI, experts in the QuantiFERON chemistry, clinicians or medical experts also working with us. It's a very cross-functional effort. The goal is to, you know, get the test out as quickly as possible. You know, we're targeting 2027 for the launch of this tool.
So-
Thank you, Nitin.
Nitin mentioned CD4, CD8, and we have a question around that. What advantages does a CD4, CD8 based latent TB test have?
Nadia?
Yes. Thank you very much. I'm going to give the basics, and then afterwards, I'm going to invite Paramp al to continue. As a company, QIAGEN decided to launch a fourth generation. We were already in the market for some time, and we knew very well why we decided this unique CD4, CD8 combination, because we wanted to improve, and we wanted to put the standards again a little bit higher. What we see today is, and we see this from all the publications that are out there, that with a combination between CD4 and CD8, you have a much more solid test and your results are much more reproducible. I don't know, Paramp al, if you want to add something on the science part.
Sure. Thank you, Nadia. The CD4 cells are available, T cells are available when there is a response against TB antigen. However, when there is a patient population which is immunosuppressant, their CD4 cells response could be impaired. In that situation, it's so important to have another T cell response marker, which is CD8, which allows us to look at more biologically relevant information on those patient populations which are high risk. If you look at the TB case management, these are the groups who are more prone to get from a TB infection to TB disease. This is why combination of CD4 and CD8 allows us to have more sensitive and specific test, which people can rely on, patients can rely on, clinicians can rely on, and the laboratories can rely on.
This is the uniqueness of CD4 and CD8, which is evident. So much evidence is available through publications, which allows us to really be proud as a QIAGEN to have a very strong test on the market.
Thank you, Paramp al.
Now one question again on automation, which is Tecan, Hamilton. Just to clarify that, is there still a partnership with Tecan, Hamilton with the Inpeco system that we're going to launch?
We need to be clear. What is the power of automation? It's obviously ease of use, gaining time, gaining efficiency, cost efficiency, patient efficiency. The power of automation is also in flexibility. It's not one size fits it all, and therefore, we want to continue to offer the QuantiFERON as it is, the QuantiFERON on LIAISON. Nadia spoke about the conversion progressively to the CLIA II on LIAISON. Some customers are only sometime interested in the front end, and they are used to work with Tecan. It's going to continue. The same with Hamilton. Some customers will say, "I'll take care of the front end." I have the technicians for that, and I just want the LIAISON automation. That's perfectly fine. It depends on volumes, it depends on throughputs, it depends on the countries.
Something I would like to ask also Nadia to highlight is that even our full automation with Inpeco will be flexible.
Yes. Thank you very much, Thierry. Indeed. We really need to give an answer to the needs of the customer if you have a small customer or to a higher customer. I think a lot of people, if they see Inpeco, we have different possibilities. The two, the aliquoter and we have our incubator. An aliquoter will be needed if a customer works with a 1 tube format. An aliquoter will not be needed if a customer works with a four tube format. This is already a tailor-made solution. You have an incubator. Depending on the volume you're going to be able to have a day, you can put in multiple incubators, one beside the other. You could, in principle, also build on a current street that is already available in labs.
We really go from a tailor-made solution, because when a customer wants to go for automation, we make a group, we sit down with the customer, and we make together with Inpeco, together with the DiaSorin and us, we make a tailored proposal to the needs of the customer. Keeping in mind that sometimes customers can grow, so if a customer would grow in their volume, there's always a possibility to add an extra LIASON instrument or to add an extra incubator.
On volume, which customers would benefit from an end-to-end workflow, from an end-to-end automation? Is it more targeted to high throughput customers? Just maybe a bit more color on that.
Yeah. It's really targeted for what we call our high-end customers. Don't be blind, this is not only U.S.-based customers. Worldwide, we have quite a lot of customers that have a possibility to go into this automation process. These are customers that today we would like to serve in a way that is unique in the market.
Okay. Now jump back to AI. We have a couple more AI topics. Why does risk stratification matter? Isn't it the point to treat all patients? Just what's the added value for that?
Because we tried to explain, especially also a year ago during our deep dive, that when you have such a reservoir of potentially active TB, we said two billion, a quarter of the world population, which means probably that in this room there is someone who is latent TB positive, we like it or not, but that's the way it is. Two billion people. It is clear that from a cost management, from a, I would say, personalized medicine standpoint, having the ability to detect or to predict who is latent TB has the highest score to go to active TB, therefore needing a specific follow-up, a longer treatment, a specific attention, and a complete adherence, because that's the problem many times with the patient. They do not comply sometimes with their treatment. It's key. It's key.
Many companies have been trying, and QIAGEN as well, with different technologies for many years to get there. With protein-based solution, with genomic-based solution, it failed all the time. Suddenly we realize, wait a minute, these companies has multi- years of multiple results. We have also acquired other healthcare data, and now we are creating those algorithm.
Now, let's see. Let's take a financial one in between. It's on our 2028 target of $600 million. What gives us confidence in that? Also, how are the new launches contributing to that?
That's a, that's a very fair question. Back to our capital market day, in 2024, we set the target of $ 600 million, as you said, Domenica, for 2028. We were very transparent a week ago to the market as well, that if all the other applications on QuantiFERON are growing in a healthy way, we suffered the loss of one market, especially in the U.S. and in some countries in Middle East, but mainly in the U.S., it's the immigrants market. We gave the market a very clear indication. We believe it's between $30 million-$35 million of impact.
We still believe that because of the potential of new applications, not only with what we are launching today, but existing immediate opportunities like testing for patients under dialysis, for example, extending the knowledge around, for example, the connection between diabetes patient and tuberculosis, that we have ways to mitigate. At the moment, let's execute on our target for this year. Let's execute on coming back to growth with QuantiFERON in H2, we'll come back with the appropriate target. What I keep in mind is that the market to convert is still significant. This market is still growing. It's a good market to be, we have more and more solution to address it completely.
Yeah, on the conversion rate of the market, we keep saying 40% already converted. What do we need to get this conversion rate above 50% and even higher? How might new entrants impact this conversion dynamics?
Nadia, do you want to take it?
Yes, I will.
I can chime in after if you want.
Thank you very much. On the conversion rate, it's a combination between our sales teams, our clinical demand teams, but also our medical teams. Thierry just mentioned that there's new groups of patients that have the possibility to be tested, and this is really where our Medical Affairs does a huge solid job. Our teams have strict criteria. We follow up, we go to patients, and we continue repeating the same message. Key message if you want to convert a skin test to a blood-based IGRA test is everybody who's BCG vaccinated will quite often be false positive at a skin test, so you can't really deal with it. Secondly, when you do a skin test, people need to come back twice. These are the messages that we continue saying, and we see year after year that a big part of the market is shifting.
Some parts of the market have almost shifted 100%. If you look to biologics is almost using blood-based IGRA test and QuantiFERON test for all of their patients. If there's a new company coming into the market, this new company, together with us, can move the $75 million that is today the market of latent TB up to $ 80 million, up to $90 million, because Thierry just said there's two billion people with latent TB, so the number of $75 million is much higher because in some countries not everybody is tested.
In addition to that, I would like to add that, back in 2016, when we deliberately choose DiaSorin as a partner, it was a very well-thought choice. DiaSorin is not just a immunoassay company. DiaSorin is a leading company in esoteric added value medical test. Their salespeople, like QIAGEN salespeople, they are used to spend five, six, seven visits to convert the customers. We like it or not, healthcare is very prone to innovation, but sometimes there is a lot of conservatism. For example, in the U.S., we have a tool, a marketing tool, and I discussed that with the market over the last three years. We have a marketing tool enabling us to know by zip code where the remaining skin test customers are.
Once we have the information, we look what kind of population are they basically serving, immunocompromised or not, and we try to convert them. It takes some time, up to six, seven . It's fair to say that it takes on average seven visits to convert, not because they are not convinced, they are, but because they are comfortable with the way it works. My technicians are trained, and little by little, you go to medical value, you go to cost efficiency, and they move to you. That's a natural movement, but it takes time. It takes time, it takes medical, and it takes experience and mindset. This is why DiaSorin was not just an option among, it was the option to partner efficiently with us.
Let me bundle a couple of questions on the Inpeco system. It's moving again. Where do you find Inpeco systems and what type of labs? Are these new call points for QuantiFERON? Are there customers that have seen this? How is the response of customers?
I'll quickly say I'm going to move to Riccardo because nobody can speak better about where Inpeco is in the world. Obviously, the major labs in the world are all customers of QuantiFERON as we speak. Obviously, we have visited already some of them with a fantastic, basically attention. They saw the workflow. They also suggested some improvements, and its work are ongoing. It's very exciting to see the level of interest, the fact that they come back to us. When is it going to be available? We already have customers saying, "I want to be the first one to implement it." Riccardo, what about the presence of Inpeco all over the world?
Thanks. Thanks for this one, Thierry. We are present almost in every country in the globe. We have currently around 3,000 automation tracks installed worldwide. I think the important message is that, you know, obviously, we are perceived as a company working in the, you know, high-end segment of the market. You mentioned, you know, Quest , Labcorp, all the biggest labs across the globe have our automation. You know, 80% of our automations are in the smaller type of labs. Because I was hearing Nadia loud and clear, obviously, we are now targeting high-end segment, but there is a huge portion of the market that is not only looking just for efficiency gains, but they're also looking to really remove tedious manual operations.
These kind of labs are really in a search, in a quest for end-to-end automations. This is where I see, you know, our partnership coming together. Global leader in lab automation, the global leader in latent TB testing, coming together with , as you said, a super performant analytical platform like the LIAISON from DiaSorin. I really think we are bringing something really impactful in the market. We have, you know, a huge market to target. As I said, 3,000 installations across the globe that can, you know, plug in this new solution from our three companies.
Thanks, Riccardo.
On the DSR and chemistry. What is the feedback from customers? Are we seeing any faster adoption or transition to LIAISON? How did this address any hesitation in conversion?
We have given numbers today. Nadia can repeat them. Yes, the reception in Europe is very good, we just got approved to the FDA in the U.S., we are currently introducing to test to the customers. Nadia?
Yeah. Thank you very much, Thierry. The feedback of the customers is really overwhelming because we know it goes faster. We have a faster time to detection. We can do much more patients. What is ongoing now is we're in a transition plan. This transition plan is really followed up extremely correctly, and we haven't really had one customer that was not pleased with the results of the CLIA II. We are following the conversion plan, and we are convinced that it will be done on the timing that we had foreseen.
Now the last one for today. The full automation workflow, can it also be used with other latent TB tests, blood-based latent TB tests, or is it really just available for QuantiFERON?
I think we did answer, but it's a good question. Obviously, it's a key question. We did answer, Riccardo and I, and Nitin said a word or so about this. It's a purpose-built automation for QuantiFERON. I believe that if those partnerships want to be winning partnership, there needs to be a kind of, call it exclusivity or call it a special relation, but something very strong. Basically, we like the fact that Inpeco is so specialized into very precise automation. We like the fact that DiaSorin is so specialized into esoteric testing, that makes that specialization and that depth of partnership, because we all have skin in the game, that makes this partnership potentially successful.
With that, we are at the end. Any closing remarks?
No. I would like to take advantage of Nitin being with us, he's heading our Portfolio Development, to give his vision as concluding words and obviously, thank Riccardo, thank Parampal, thank Nadia, thank you, Domenica, a lot. Thank our IR team. Riccardo, thanks a lot for being with us. Thanks also to DiaSorin. Even if they are not with us today, we thank them for this partnership. Nitin?
Yes. Thank you, Thierry. I hope what all of you saw in today's program is not just a product update. It's an ecosystem. That's what we are building, and we're building that from a position of strength. Three things. First, we're making the test faster. 75% more testing with CLIA II. Number two, we're making the test fully automated. No manual steps. Number three, we're adding intelligence to the test on the basis of 13 million patient records that no one else on Earth has. That's ecosystem leadership. That's what today is all about. Thank you.
Thank you, Nitin. With that, we are at the end of the spotlight session. Thank you for your participation. Hope to see you soon again. If you have any remaining questions, please always feel free to contact us. Happy to help you. See you then. Bye-bye.