INDUSTRY NEWS
Gen-Probe Inc. (San Diego) announced that it has agreed with Bayer HealthCare LLC (Leverkusen, Germany) to end a series of disputes involving multiple patent litigations and contract arbitrations. Under the binding terms of the agreement, Gen-Probe will withdraw its patent litigation against Bayer and will grant Bayer immunity from suit with respect to all existing and future Gen-Probe patents for all of Bayer’s current nucleic acid diagnostic products. Bayer will also grant Gen-Probe immunity from suit under certain Bayer patents with respect to Gen-Probe’s current Tigris instrument and future instruments.
Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, IL) announced that it entered into a licensing agreement with Advanced Life Science Institute Inc. (ALSI; Saitama, Japan) for its Pro-gastrin-releasing peptide (ProGRP). Under the terms of the agreement, Abbott obtains worldwide rights to commercialize products using ALSI’s ProGRP material and technology. Currently, no diagnostic test is approved in the United States for testing serum for lung cancer.
OraSure Technologies Inc. (Bethlehem, PA) announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Atlanta) placed a purchase order for a bulk procurement of the Advance rapid HIV-1/2 antibody test. CDC placed the order to support its prevention initiatives. This order is the fourth bulk purchase of the devices by CDC since the initiative was launched in 2003. This latest bulk purchase order by CDC is for $2.3 million and is expected to be fully deployed in 2006. This order is in response to a growing demand in the U.S. public health market for oral fluid rapid HIV testing.
Acacia Research Corp. (Newport Beach, CA) announced that its CombiMatrix group signed a subcontract with Northrop Grumman (Los Angeles) to develop technology and components for the handheld isothermal silver standard sensor (HISSS) program. The goal of the HISSS program is to develop a handheld sensor that is capable of identifying biological weapon threats across the entire threat spectrum including bacteria, viruses, and toxins.
