Healthcare Industry News: hepatitis C
News Release - September 8, 2006
Jury Finds Abbott Willfully Infringed Innogenetics HCV Patent
U.S. District Court Verdict Awards Innogenetics $7 Million in DamagesGENT, Belgium and MADISON, Wis., Sept. 8 (HSMN NewsFeed) -- In U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin today, a jury unanimously found that Abbott Laboratories willfully infringed Innogenetics U.S. Patent No. 5,846,704 ("the '704 patent"), which covers a method of genotyping the hepatitis C Virus ("HCV").
The verdict directs Abbott to pay Innogenetics $7 million for infringement damages to date. That award may, at the judge's discretion, be increased up to three times today's amount because the jury specifically determined Abbott's patent infringement was willful.
Further, based on the strength of the verdict and the determination that the infringement was willful, Innogenetics will seek an injunction against Abbott diagnostic products that infringe its '704 patent and pursue other available remedies.
"This is a landmark victory for Innogenetics, and possibly for other innovators like us out there," said Frank Morich, CEO of Innogenetics. "This win protects an important patent for us, and provides compensation for this major infringement -- but perhaps just as importantly it says that being a large, global company does not entitle you to willfully disregard intellectual property laws without consequence."
The lawsuit began in September 2005 when Innogenetics brought suit against Abbott Laboratories alleging that Abbott was infringing its '704 patent. On September 2, 2006, a jury returned a unanimous verdict for Innogenetics that the '704 patent was valid in all its aspects. Today's verdict was a follow-on to that decision, designed to determine damages and whether the infringement had been willful.
About Innogenetics
Innogenetics is an international biopharmaceutical company building parallel businesses in the areas of specialty diagnostics and therapeutic vaccines. In 2005, total revenues (product sales, royalties, and license fees) reached euro 48.6 million, with a profitable Specialty Diagnostics Division. Its Diagnostics Division develops a large number of specialty products covering three areas: infectious diseases (hepatitis C, hepatitis B, and HIV), genetic testing (HLA tissue typing and cystic fibrosis), and neurodegeneration (Alzheimer's disease). In its Therapeutics Division, Innogenetics focuses on the development of therapeutic vaccines to address unmet medical needs in the field of infectious diseases, with two compounds now in clinical trials (hepatitis C in phase IIb and hepatitis B in phase I).
Founded in 1985, Innogenetics is listed on Euronext Brussels [Ticker: INNX]. Innogenetics' headquarters are in Gent, Belgium, with sales subsidiaries in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, and the United States. Innogenetics employs 530 people worldwide and has a market capitalization of approximately euro 295 million.
Forward looking statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to projections of future revenues, operating income, and other risks. Prospective investors should be aware that these statements are estimates, reflecting only the judgments and projections of Innogenetics' management, and no undue reliance should be placed on such forward-looking statements.
Source: Innogenetics
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