Enzo Biochem Files Suit Against Amersham, Perkinelmer and Others for Breach of Distributorship Agreements Involving Nucleic Acid Detection Systems.Business & Health Editors FARMINGDALE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 2002 Company Says Improper Practices Persist Despite Its Efforts to Resolve Them Enzo Biochem, Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :ENZ) and its wholly owned subsidiary Wholly Owned Subsidiary A subsidiary whose parent company owns 100% of its common stock. Notes: In other words, the parent company owns the company outright and there are no minority owners. Enzo Life Sciences, Inc. filed an action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of against Amersham plc (NYSE:AHM AHM Automated Hacking Machines AHM All Hands Meeting AHM Academy for Healthcare Management AHM Atom Heart Mother (Pink Floyd album) AHM Airport Handling Manual AHM Acutely Hazardous Material AHM Anti-Helicopter Mine ) and PerkinElmer, Inc. (NYSE:PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) A framework for creating a secure method for exchanging information based on public key cryptography. The foundation of a PKI is the certificate authority (CA), which issues digital certificates that authenticate the identity of ) charging them and six other companies with breach of contract, patent infringement patent infringement n. the manufacture and/or use of an invention or improvement for which someone else owns a patent issued by the government, without obtaining permission of the owner of the patent by contract, license or waiver. , and other counts arising out of their misuse of Enzo's patented labeled nucleotide products and technologies, the Company announced today. Named in the suit as defendants are Amersham plc and its U.S. subsidiary, Amersham Biosciences, PerkinElmer, Inc. and PerkinElmer Life Sciences, Inc., Molecular Probes, Inc., Orchid Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :ORCH ORCH Orchestra ORCH Orchard ), Sigma-Aldrich Corp. (NASDAQ:SIAL) and its subsidiary, Sigma Chemical Company, Inc.. Amersham, PerkinElmer and Sigma had previously signed agreements with Enzo to distribute Enzo's labeled nucleotide products and are referred to as "Distributor Defendants" in the Enzo complaint. The complaint alleges that the Distributorship Defendants have a limited right to distribute, strictly for research purposes, only those products listed in their respective distributorship agreements with Enzo. According to the complaint, the agreements are not patent licenses, and specifically prohibit the Distributor Defendants from selling Enzo's products for diagnostic or therapeutic use, from engaging in any commercial development or exploitation of Enzo's patented products or technologies, and from manufacturing any product covered by Enzo's patents, except as expressly authorized by Enzo. The complaint states that the Distributor Defendants began breaching their distributorship agreements shortly after signing. According to the complaint, the distributor defendants have continued to breach their agreements ever since. In addition to breaching distributorship agreements, the Distributor Defendants and the other defendants are charged with infringing Enzo's patents and improperly using Enzo's patented products and technologies and with providing others with unauthorized and prohibited access to Enzo's patented products and technologies. The Company says that Enzo's patented labeled nucleotide products and technologies are breakthrough, pioneering inventions that have proved their considerable value in applications ranging from detecting pathogens and human diseases, such as cancer, to decoding and analyzing the human genome. About Enzo Enzo Biochem is engaged in the research, development and manufacture of innovative health care products based on molecular biology molecular biology, scientific study of the molecular basis of life processes, including cellular respiration, excretion, and reproduction. The term molecular biology was coined in 1938 by Warren Weaver, then director of the natural sciences program at the Rockefeller and genetic engineering techniques, and in providing diagnostic services diagnostic services, n.pl the imaging and laboratory capabilities available for determining the cause of an illness. to the medical community. The Company's proprietary labeling and detection products for gene sequencing and genetic analysis, with approximately 200 patents worldwide, are sold to the life sciences market throughout the world. The Company's therapeutic division is conducting clinical trials for HIV-1-infected patients and for patients infected with hepatitis B Hepatitis B Definition Hepatitis B is a potentially serious form of liver inflammation due to infection by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). It occurs in both rapidly developing (acute) and long-lasting (chronic) forms, and is one of the most common chronic and hepatitis C viruses. The Company also holds a patent covering a method and materials for correcting point mutations or small insertions or deletions of genetic material that would allow for editing and correcting certain abnormalities in genes. Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this news release may be considered "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements include declarations regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the Company and its management. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could materially affect actual results. The Company disclaims any obligations to update any forward-looking statement as a result of developments occurring after the date of this press release. |
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