INDUSTRY NEWS
Agreeing to end their long-standing legal conflict over thermal cycler patents, Applied Biosystems (Foster City, CA) and Roche Molecular Systems (Pleasanton, CA) have signed a settlement agreement with Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. (Hercules, CA). The patent infringement suit was originally filed against MJ Research (which was acquired by Bio-Rad in 2004) in 1998. In September 2005, an injunction was issued prohibiting Bio-Rad from making, selling, or repairing MJ thermal cyclers in the United States. Under the terms of the current agreement, Bio-Rad’s thermal cycler supplier license has been amended to include the MJ Research products under dispute. Bio-Rad will receive permission to license instruments in the United States and Canada, and will take on a more limited license in Europe and Japan. Bio-Rad has also agreed to license capillary electrophoresis products from Applied Biosystems’ parent company, Applera Corp., effectively ending separate litigation filed by Bio-Rad against the company in 2002 for patent and trademark infringement.
Bayer Diagnostics (Tarrytown, NY) has licensed its urinary trypsin inhibitor immunoassays to Signet Laboratories Inc. (Dedham, MA). Under the deal, Signet will develop tests for its Nephroscreen, a research assay that can detect the possible onset of acute renal failure. “The trypsin inhibitors Uri and Bik are cutting-edge biomarkers that can have a great impact on the diagnosis and management of diseases for inflammation,” says Michael Pugia, PhD, director of urinalysis research and development at Bayer.
Following a January 10 announcement that it would purchase GeneOhm Sciences Inc. (San Diego), Becton Dickinson and Co. (BD; Franklin Lakes, NJ) has said that it has completed its acquisition of the molecular diagnostic testing company. Under the terms of the agreement, BD paid $230 million, plus up to $25 million in additional incentives.
In a statement about the deal, BD said that GeneOhm’s assets will help BD to become a leader in the emerging field of healthcare-associated infections. “The GeneOhm Sciences array of rapid molecular assays for detection of these ‘superbugs’ will offer important tools to address the diagnostic challenge of providing almost-immediate detection of these harmful, infection-causing organisms,” the company said.
GeneOhm’s current product menu includes IDI-MRSA and IDI-Strep B tests, which detect methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Group B Strep, respectively. For 2005, GeneOhm recorded approximately $5 million in revenues.
Atom Sciences Inc. (Oak Ridge, TN) has received a two-year grant totaling more than $600,000 from the National Institutes of Health to develop a technology that can detect and identify pathogens that could be used in a biowarfare attack or disease outbreak. The company will focus its early work on identifying the DNA fingerprint of the bacteria that causes cholera. It anticipates that the process can also be applied to foodborne pathogen detection, agricultural and veterinary testing, water testing, and clinical testing. The grant is being issued under the Small Business Biodefense Program in conjunction with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.
