NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Roche's Ventana Medical Systems today announced a non-exclusive licensing deal with Biocare Medical covering the p63 gene.
The deal is in parallel with a settlement agreement reached by Biocare and AsymmetRx Medical, which sued Biocare in 2007 alleging patent infringement related to the p63 technology.
As part of the settlement, also announced today, Biocare has gained a worldwide license through Ventana to distribute p63 mouse monoclonal primary antibody in the research and in vitro diagnostic space. In 2010, AsymmetRx and Ventana announced a licensing deal granting Ventana an exclusive license and distribution rights to p63.
AsymmetRx holds the worldwide, exclusive license under the Harvard Medical School patent filings for the use of p63 antibody for the diagnosis of prostate and other cancers. It has agreed to terminate all patent infringement litigation against Biocare.
Financial terms of the Ventana-Biocare licensing agreement and Biocare-AsymmetRx settlement were not disclosed.
"Including p63 in our lung, prostate and breast panels really empowers our Multiplex IHC platform to aid pathologists in making critical decisions and solidifies our passion for patient care and the ability to fight cancer one slide at a time," Roy Paxton Yih, president and CEO of Biocare, said in a statement.
"Prostate cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to diagnose, and the p63-based test adds a significant advantage to making the correct diagnosis," Peter McKeon, president of AsymmetRx, added. "We are very excited about our agreement with Ventana, and now Biocare, as it will provide a platform to bring the p63 diagnostic tests to patients worldwide."