FULLERTON, Calif., July 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Beckman Coulter, Inc. announced today that the company has acquired an In Vitro Diagnostics product license to all real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) patents and pending patent applications owned or controlled by Roche Diagnostics, a division of F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland. Beckman Coulter will pay Roche a one time license fee of $27.5 million and will also pay royalties on sales of all licensed products.
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“Real time PCR is the most widely accepted technology for the quantitative amplification and detection in molecular testing” said Scott Garrett, CEO. “We recently announced that Beckman Coulter reached a settlement with Applera Corporation resulting in licenses to Beckman Coulter of the intellectual property needed for development of real time PCR instrumentation for diagnostics. This additional license from Roche gives our company the intellectual property required to meet the molecular testing needs of routine labs for an automated, fully integrated system. Beckman Coulter will continue to build on its strength of simplifying and automating laboratory processes, by bringing its unique capabilities in integrated system development to the area of molecular testing. Development of the products, including instruments and diagnostic kits, will begin immediately. Initial launch is expected in two to three years.”
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Beckman Coulter’s expectations for the timing of new products based on the licensed technologies. These statements are based on information currently available and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially as a result of a number of factors, some of which may be beyond the company’s control. Among other things, these factors include the inability to develop in vitro diagnostic tests based on new technologies, a determination that the tests do not provide sufficient precision and accuracy, failure to establish the clinical utility of these tests during clinical studies, and delays resulting from the timing and scope of regulatory agency reviews.
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.
CONTACTS: Investors: Robert Raynor (714) 773-7620 Director, Investor Relations Media: Paul Whitlock (714) 961-3515 Director, Corporate Communications
Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031202Beckman Coulter, Inc.
CONTACT: Investors - Robert Raynor, +1-714-773-7620, Director, InvestorRelations, Media - Paul Whitlock, +1-714-961-3515, Director, CorporateCommunication, both of Beckman Coulter, Inc.
Web site: http://www.beckmancoulter.com/
