John, it is a sticky wicket. Potential licensees must tread softly, because they could end up sued for interference with the license contract that Roche now holds. And yeah, I would guess that Abbott must ge watching with great interest. I think Igen MIGHT be better off with the right single partner that was pushing sales of everything - if that relationship was a happy one - than with more than one partner. It has to be hell to try to play one potential partner off against another, and you are very right about the fact that anything one or the other of those does could be wrong so far as Igen is concrned. When I mentioned 4000 unit sales, I was referring to the number that Sam mentioned as what he believed had been sold when they were reporting 3000 units out. I really doubt that Abbott would dare try to deal with Igen, at least in the area covered by Roche's license. I would think that HP would love to get the POC, and that she would want to add some of the stuff to their patient monitoring station - which may or may not infringe on the Roche license, since those stations are in hospitals, I think. I understand that they could share a license with someone else - but they also could end up with an exclusive license to some specific segment of the market not covered by other licenses - just as the Japanese partner is licensed for close to the same thing in Japan as Roche holds here and in Europe. I believe I heard something in that conference that Igen signed a standstill, agreeing she would not try to cut off Roche while their differences were unresolved. But the Roche license covers an important spectrum of the market, and to try to ignore them as to other parts of the market might leave her in a position where they could play hell with the customer base and the market. I have caught an occasional hint (maybe) that they were out of this or couldn't do that - and by now, I should think they would be (or should be) right on top of their segment of the market. I am not certain about that, but I am sure that market penetration is the name of the game - the difference between big success and getting tagged out between third base and home.
But you mentioned research being the area which is shared with no one. I have certainly thought of that. I know that each drug company, research outfit, etc., would be pressed to have all their molecules tested. That is a lot of testing. And I know it represents a lot of business. But I have thought of that as an exhaustable area. Am I wrong? Or would that generate a service market as well as a supplies market? I ask that even though I haven't forgotten that it is like the razor blades. We get to sell supplies. And when you wonder how Perkin Elmer's deal is going, I saw their announcement and I immediately assumed that they would probably come in behind Pfizer and Aguron to order one of the large test throughput assemblies. And I certainly can see that they might drive others into more intense research competition. But beyond that possibility, what bearing does their deal have on Igen? |
