F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. filed pretrial order against IGEN

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. ("HLR") announced yesterday that it had recently filed its proposed Pretrial Order in relation to a patent infringement litigation against Igen International Inc. ("IGEN"). Trial in the case is scheduled to begin in Wilmington, Delaware, on 23 February 2001.

The patent in suit, U.S. Patent No. 4,978,610 ("the `610 patent") covers a method of performing electrochemical specific binding assays. The lawsuit charges that IGEN is unable to practice its core technology, electrochemiluminescense ("ECL"), without infringing the patent in suit. IGEN has sought to defend the infringement charge by proving, inter alia, that Igen is licensed under the ‘610 patent by virtue of a separate contract between itself and Roche Diagnostics GmbH ("RDG"), a sister corporation of HLR. That separate contract is also currently involved in litigation between Igen and RDG, now pending in Maryland. Trial in the Maryland lawsuit is scheduled to begin on October 23, 2001.

The Pretrial Order recently filed by HLR in Delaware asks the Court to enter an injunction prohibiting Igen and its licensees from selling any of their current ECL products. If HLR succeeds in proving that ECL infringes the `610 patent, and also succeeds in defeating IGEN’s patent license defense, the Delaware court is expected to enter an injunction that could effectively prohibit IGEN and its licensees from continuing the business of selling ECL based products. Such an injunction may have the added effect of preventing IGEN from collecting damages from RDG in the Maryland contract case for any events that may occur subsequent to the date of such injunction.

The Pretrial Order filed by HLR in the Delaware case also asks that Court to enter an injunction prohibiting the practice of ECL, even in the event that IGEN successfully proves its patent license defense. In this situation, the injunction would be limited to the fields of use that IGEN previously licensed to RDG and which are currently at issue in the Maryland lawsuit. Such an injunction may have the effect of precluding IGEN from licensing ECL technology to any other company in the fields of use previously licensed to RDG.

HLR and RDG are members of the Roche Group. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world’s leading research-oriented healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and vitamins. Roche’s innovative products and services address needs for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, thus enhancing people’s well-being and quality of life. Roche has approximately 63,900 employees and sells its products in more than 170 countries. Through the company’s Diagnostics Division, innovative testing products and services are made available to physicians, patients, hospitals and laboratories worldwide.

For more information please contact:

Dr. Marianne Gretz, PhD
Phone: +49 (0) 621 - 759 23 24
Fax: +49 (0) 621 - 759 29 02
Marianne.Gretz@Roche.com