UPPSALA, Sweden, March 26, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Biacore International AB (Biacore) (SSE:BCOR) (Nasdaq:BCOR) today announced that the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the centralized appellate Court for patent appeals in the United States, has affirmed the judgement that was appealed in April, 2001. Under the original judgement that was made on April 23, 2001, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware granted a permanent injunction preventing Thermo BioAnalysis Corp. (Thermo) from infringing Biacore's patent (U.S. patent no. 5,436,161). Furthermore, the Court awarded damages in favor of Biacore AB and Biacore Inc. to be calculated based upon a royalty rate of 40% of the sales price of each IAsys biosensor sold by Thermo since July 25, 1995, plus interest.
As a result of today's ruling Biacore expects to receive damages from Thermo BioAnalysis Corp. in the region of USD 1.7 million.
Dr. Ulf Jonsson, the CEO of Biacore International AB commenting on today's announcement said: "We are extremely pleased that the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has confirmed the earlier judgement against Thermo BioAnalysis Corp. Our patent portfolio is a key element in Biacore's success and today's ruling reinforces the value of the time and effort we have invested in building our intellectual property position."
Background
On December 30, 1999, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware announced its decision in the patent dispute between Biacore and Thermo. The Court decided in Biacore's favor, holding that Biacore's patent was valid and that the patent had been infringed by Thermo's Affinity Sensors unit. The Court further indicated that it "would grant a permanent injunction preventing Thermo from infringing the `161 patent'" and requested further briefing regarding the amount of damages to be paid by Thermo for its past infringement and concerning the language of the permanent injunction. The Court's April 23, 2001 Judgment addressed these outstanding issues.
Cautionary Statement
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which, by their nature, involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
About Biacore
Biacore is a global market leader in Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) based technology with its own sales operations in the U.S., across Europe, in Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The technology is protected by a strong patent portfolio. Target groups consist primarily of medical and life science research laboratories and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies all over the world. Biacore focuses on drug discovery as the prime area for future growth. The Company currently has seven systems on the market with its Biacore(r)S51 for applications downstream of high-throughput screening (HTS) including rapid characterization of HTS hits and comprehensive preclinical evaluation of lead compounds. Biacore(r)3000 offers specific application in drug discovery upstream of HTS. A new SPR array system is currently under development.
Based in Uppsala, Sweden, the Company is listed on Stockholmsborsen and Nasdaq in the U.S. In 2001 the Company had sales of SEK 544 million and an operating income of SEK 64 million.
Further information on Biacore can be found on the Web: www.biacore.com