Licence agreement
Innogenetics NV of Gent, Belgium, has finalised a non-exclusive licensing agreement for patents in the field of viral diagnostics with the US life sciences research equipment company Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. Under the deal Innogenetics gets a licence in the field of HIV-2 immunoassays, while Bio-Rad gets an option on a non-exclusive licence under Innogenetics patents in the field of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotyping.
The agreement brings an end to end legal proceedings between Innogenetics,and Bio-Rad Laboratories over the HIV-2 technology. The HIV-2 licence granted to Innogenetics covers all territories, except the USA and Canada.
The proceedings, initiated in 1998, were related to European patents owned by Institute Pasteur in Paris. Based on these patents, claims were pending against Innogenetics at the Courts of Antwerp and Gent, respectively.
“We are pleased by the resolution of the patent dispute and the conclusion of the business deals,” said Frank Morich, CEO of Innogenetics. “The agreement will allow Innogenetics to market its products in its territories. Furthermore, the recognition of our intellectual property assets in the field of HCV genotyping by Bio-Rad further stresses their importance to the viral diagnostics community."
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