ZeaVision Settles Patent Infringement Case with Non-Roche Defendants.

Business Editors

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 18, 2003

Two companies sued by St. Louis based ZeaVision, L.L.C., have agreed to settle claims made against them in ZeaVision's patent infringement suit filed earlier this year in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Named as defendants in the lawsuit are Roche Vitamins, Inc., of Parsippany, NJ, its two corporate affiliates headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, F. Hoffmann La-Roche AG and Roche Vitamins Ltd., and three dietary supplement companies: Geres Dengle Co. of Spencerport, NY, Vitamin Science, Inc., of Long Island, NY, and Life Extension Foundation, Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, FL. Roche's Vitamins and Fine Chemicals Division is being sold to DSM, a multinational company based in the Netherlands, and a leading producer of life science products, performance materials, and industrial chemicals. The other defendants are companies engaged in sales of various nutritional supplements and other products.

The lawsuit alleges that sales by the non-Roche defendants of dietary supplements containing zeaxanthin (pronounced "zee-uh-zan'-thin") infringe certain composition and method of use U.S. patents held by ZeaVision pertaining to zeaxanthin. The suit also charges the Roche defendants with infringement of ZeaVision's patents by Roche's marketing and sale of zeaxanthin products.

In the settlement, Geres Dengle Co. and Vitamin Sciences, Inc., have signed consent decrees admitting the validity and enforceability of ZeaVision's patents. Both companies agreed to cease and desist from further infringement. As part of the settlement, ZeaVision has agreed to grant the settling defendants non-exclusive, royalty-bearing licenses to market and sell dietary supplements containing zeaxanthin in doses not exceeding 2 mg per day. For the defendants that have not settled, ZeaVision is seeking damages for willful infringement of its patents.

"ZeaVision has spent many years investing in dietary zeaxanthin and will protect and defend its associated intellectual property portfolio when it is threatened," said Dr. Dennis L. Gierhart, chairman and chief executive officer of ZeaVision (www.zeavision.com). "Our dietary zeaxanthin patents are extremely valuable corporate assets, and this suit reflects our determination to protect their value."

In April 2002 ZeaVision launched the sale of its patent-protected dietary supplements containing zeaxanthin. Both a carotenoid and antioxidant, zeaxanthin is a naturally occurring pigment found in many fruits and vegetables that help protect the retina from the damaging effects of sunlight and oxidative stress and free radicals. As a critical eye-health nutrient, zeaxanthin promotes eye health and helps protect the retina against macular degeneration. The benefits of dietary zeaxanthin are supported by a growing body of science from human and animal studies, including a human study from the Medical Research Council Environmental Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, U.K. published in June 2003, which suggests that higher levels of zeaxanthin in blood serum may be more important in preventing or stabilizing age-related macular degeneration than lutein, which has been on the market since the 1990s. Among other things, the study concluded "Low blood level of zeaxanthin -- not lutein, is significantly associated with the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration."

ZeaVision, an emerging nutraceutical company based in the St. Louis area, holds a number of patents on the manufacture, use and composition of dietary zeaxanthin in the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, South Africa, and South Korea. It also has pending patent applications related to zeaxanthin in the U.S., Europe, and several other countries. The patents-in-suit are U.S. Patent No. 5,747,544, which relates to the use of zeaxanthin for macular degeneration, and U.S. Reissue Patent No. 38,009, which relates to compositions, pills, tablets, and capsules containing zeaxanthin.