You paint with a broad brush, John, thinking of Igen holding a major market segment in the arena of medical research instrument suppliers. Shucks, I have only thought of them dominating the area of testing. At the outset, I felt that if their system works they have to achieve that rank, and by now it is ever more certain that the system works. I admit that at this point I see there must be a place for an Aurora, too, because if they can kick off their system I think there must be some room for them, too. As to that 3% override on any product developed, as a part of the price - I can see justification, because the system can make discoveries possible, but I also can see room for lots of litigation. I think one would be very reluctant to grant 3% of anything one ever developed, in perpeturity, as part of the price for buying a machine; but if it is not 3% of everything, then one could bet that any discovery ever made would result from something other than the data from the machine. Not everyone can be trusted, and Igen has never believed the contrary.
By the way, I did pick up some Aurora. Did you ever decide whether you liked it sufficient for acquisiton?
Finally, while we are thinking, Igen is protecting our rights, even as we sleep. Just picked up the following...Note #1: BMG must be marketing a POC device!! Note #2: Igen would have to be as big as we think for Roche to allow this continued push, instead of trying to heal the past breach!! Bad mistake on their part. Must have forgotten that old German rule: Thou shalt not upgefuckt in das court! This really makes no sense, unless they were trying to gather some data on just how much the introduction of a POC will detract from the value of their license - which still would be a huge mistake, but that is another subject. I think Roche would be pretty unhappy to buy their existing license for a 500-600 million price, and then to see its value crushed by POC sales and high thruput system sales. That could happen, and I would expect it to happen. The settlement they really should be aiming for is not to "purchase" their license, but to pay the 9% royalties due and to become due, both past and future, and to expand their license to cover all products and all consumers so that they could compete with Igen for sales. And that could be worth a few bucks to them, too!
Wednesday April 22, 8:34 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: IGEN International, Inc.
IGEN Files for Injunction Against Roche Boehringer Mannheim
GAITHERSBURG, Md., April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- IGEN International, Inc. (Nasdaq: IGEN - news) said today it has asked
a Maryland federal court to enjoin Germany-based Boehringer Mannheim from marketing, selling, or distributing its Elecsys
products, which are based on IGEN's proprietary ORIGEN(R) technology, to physicians' office laboratories. In papers filed
with the federal court, IGEN said that it has evidence that Boehringer Mannheim, which was acquired by F. Hoffman
La-Roche earlier this year, is marketing products based on IGEN's technology to physicians' office laboratories, which the
Company said is a clear violation of the 1992 licensing agreement between IGEN and Boehringer Mannheim.
IGEN said that the 1992 agreement granted Boehringer Mannheim rights to develop and commercialize diagnostic systems
based on IGEN's ORIGEN technology for use in centralized hospital laboratories and clinical reference laboratories only.
IGEN retains the rights to exploit its technology in all other diagnostic markets, including point-of-care settings, such as doctors'
offices, emergency rooms, and nursing homes. In 1996, Boehringer Mannheim began marketing and distributing its Elecsys line
of diagnostic systems based on ORIGEN technology. IGEN recently learned that those activities were not limited to
Boehringer Mannheim's licensed fields.
In addition to requesting the injunction, IGEN has asked the court for further relief, including an order requiring Boehringer
Mannheim to refer all point-of-care and other customers outside of Boehringer Mannheim's licensed field to IGEN for future
reagent supply needs and to place all revenues derived from unauthorized sales in escrow pending the outcome of the litigation.
In September 1997, IGEN filed legal action against Boehringer Mannheim alleging numerous breaches of the licensing
agreement, including charges that Boehringer Mannheim had failed to pay adequate royalties and had sold ORIGEN-based
systems outside of its licensed field. This request for an injunction was filed as part of the same action.
Statements in this release that relate to litigation, improvement of financial or operational performance and new product plans
are forward-looking statements. Actual results might differ materially from these statements due to risks and uncertainties,
including the impact of competitive products and pricing, the market acceptance of new products, and market conditions. A
more detailed description of these risks applicable to IGEN appears in IGEN's annual report on form 10-K for the year ended
March 31, 1997, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available upon request from IGEN. IGEN disclaims
any interest or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
IGEN and ORIGEN(R) are registered trademarks of IGEN International, Inc.
SOURCE: IGEN International, Inc.
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