NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Enzo Biochem has sued Hologic again in federal court alleging patent infringement, Hologic said in its recently filed Form 10-Q.
In the document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Hologic said that Enzo filed an additional lawsuit against it on March 27 in US District Court for the District of Delaware alleging certain Hologic molecular diagnostic products infringed US Patent No. 6,992,180, which is assigned to Enzo.
The alleged infringing products include the Procleix Parvo/HAV assays and coagulation products, including the Invader Factor II test and Invader Factor V test. Additionally, Enzo claims that Hologic's PCA3 products, all Aptima products, and all Procleix products infringe Enzo's US Patent No. 7,064,197.
Hologic said in its SEC document that "based on available information regarding this litigation, the company is unable to reasonably assess the ultimate outcome of this case or determine an estimate, or a range of estimates, of potential losses."
In early 2012, Enzo sued a number of firms including Gen-Probe, now a Hologic business, for allegedly infringing the '180 patent, which covers a method for using nucleotides as diagnostic tools and as therapeutic agents. According to the patent abstract, the invention pertains to a nucleotide comprising a phosphate moiety, sugar moiety, and a pyrimidine, purine, or 7-deazapurine moiety.
Also provided is an oligonucleotide or polynucleotide "comprising at least one such phosphate-moiety-labeled nucleotide, and other compositions, including those wherein a polypeptide is terminally ligated or attached to the oligo- or polynucleotide."
The phosphate-moiety-labeled nucleotides can be used to detect analytes and as therapeutic agents, according to the abstract.
Hologic said in its SEC form that a trial for the 2012 litigation is tentatively scheduled to begin in the fall.