Originally Published MX March/April
2002

BUSINESS NEWS

Igen International
Inc. (Gaithersburg, MD) was recently awarded damages of $505 million as a
result of its licensing dispute case against Roche Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland).
Presented before the U.S. District Court, the verdict allows Igen to terminate
a licensing agreement that had permitted the use of Igen's Origen biological
detection technology in Roche products. The ruling also gives Igen rights to Roche's
Elecsys product line of immunoassay analyzers and the tests developed for use
on the systems. The license termination won't go into effect unless the judgment
is affirmed by the court of appeals, which can take up to 18 months.



"This judgment confirms the recent jury verdict and properly awards to Igen
the relief that we have been seeking over many years," said Samuel J. Wohlstadter,
chairman and CEO of the company. "We remain confident this judgment will
be upheld."

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