FULLERTON, Calif., July 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Beckman Coulter, Inc. announced today the results of its arbitration with Digene Corporation regarding its 2002 sale of Beckman Coulter’s human papilloma virus (HPV) business to Ventana Medical Systems (Ventana). The International Center for Dispute Resolution of the American Arbitration Association ruled that Beckman Coulter was permitted, as part of its sale of its HPV business to Ventana, to assign the HPV licenses Beckman Coulter had previously received from Institut Pasteur. That business and those licenses are and have been properly in the hands of Ventana since September 2002. This is the same outcome as an April 2005 decision by the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris in a challenge brought by Institut Pasteur to the same transaction.
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The panel did find that it was improper for the company to have sold HPV cell paste, a reagent, to Ventana prior to the close of the transaction. Those sales had also been reviewed and were approved by the ICC Paris tribunal. However, these reagent sales all occurred prior to September 2002, were valued at less than $10,000, and Digene has requested no damages from Beckman Coulter in this regard.
Furthermore, the arbitration panel questioned the validity of a supply agreement entered into between Ventana and Beckman Coulter at the time of the 2002 sale of the HPV business. This supply agreement allows Beckman Coulter to become a customer of Ventana for HPV materials. Here too, this finding is contrary to the holding of the ICC Paris tribunal. Beckman Coulter has never purchased HPV materials under this supply agreement and has no plans to do so. The company has stated it plans to terminate the supply.
No actions are pending against the company regarding any aspects of these transactions and Beckman Coulter’s business operations are not impacted.
Beckman Coulter, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of biomedical testing instrument systems, tests and supplies that simplify and automate laboratory processes. Spanning the biomedical testing continuum -- from pioneering medical research and clinical trials to laboratory diagnostics and point-of-care testing -- Beckman Coulter’s 200,000 installed systems provide essential biomedical information to enhance health care around the world. The company, based in Fullerton, California, reported 2005 annual sales of $2.44 billion with 71.5 percent of this amount generated by recurring revenue from supplies, test kits, services and operating-type lease payments. For more information, visit www.beckmancoulter.com.
Contact: Robert Raynor (714) 773-7620 Director, Investor Relations
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CONTACT: Robert Raynor, Director, Investor Relations of Beckman Coulter,Inc., +1-714-773-7620
Web site: http://www.beckmancoulter.com/
