VENLO, The Netherlands and SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 4, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- QIAGEN N.V. (Nasdaq:QGEN) (Frankfurt:QIA) and Idaho Technology, Inc. are pleased to announce that the companies have reached a settlement agreement for rights to a suite of intellectual property relating to Corbett's Rotor-Gene(tm) instruments. This settlement preceded QIAGEN's acquisition of Corbett Life Science Pty. Ltd. announced on July 1, 2008. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The agreement covers Idaho Technology, Inc. patents surrounding rapid polymerase chain reaction methods and instrumentation, the use of SYBR(r) Green I in PCR reactions, melting curve analysis (rights obtained through Roche Diagnostics GmbH), analysis methods of DNA melting data, specifically high resolution melting (HRM), and others.
The parties further agreed to jointly file a stipulation of dismissal with prejudice with the District Court in Salt Lake City to end the pending legal proceedings.
This settlement follows Idaho Technology's January 2007 settlement with Cepheid involving similar intellectual property and extends Idaho Technology's program to protect their broad and valuable IP portfolio.
"We are pleased with this settlement which was a condition for our transaction with Corbett and which provides customers of Corbett cyclers and QIAGEN the key freedom to operate elements required to develop, market and operate performance leading real-time PCR detection technologies based on Corbett's innovative Rotor-Gene solutions", said Peer Schatz, QIAGEN's Chief Executive Officer.
"Idaho Technology is a company built on innovation; we are pleased to have reached a settlement with QIAGEN/Corbett and we look forward to working with QIAGEN. Protecting our intellectual property will continue to be exceedingly important to our business," said Randy Rasmussen, President, Idaho Technology, Inc.
About QIAGEN
QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands holding company, is the leading provider of sample and assay technologies. Sample technologies are used to isolate and process DNA, RNA, and proteins from biological samples such as blood or tissue. Assay technologies are used to make such isolated biomolecules visible. QIAGEN has developed and markets more than 500 consumable products as well as automated solutions for such consumables. The company provides its products to molecular diagnostics laboratories, academic researchers, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and applied testing customers for purposes such as forensics, animal or food testing, and pharmaceutical process control. QIAGEN's assay technologies include what is considered to be the broadest panel of molecular diagnostic tests available worldwide. This panel includes the only FDA-approved test for human papillomavirus (HPV), the primary cause of cervical cancer. QIAGEN employs more than 2,700 people in more than 30 locations worldwide. Further information about QIAGEN can be found at www.qiagen.com.
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About Idaho Technology, Inc.
Idaho Technology, Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Founded in 1990, Idaho Technology licensed the rapid PCR technology from the University of Utah. Through funds from the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense, the company has created many commercial instruments and reagents for use in research and applied fields. Several of these products, including the LightCycler(r) Instrument, have been sublicensed to Roche Diagnostics. Researchers, medical technicians, law enforcement officers, and soldiers in the field use the company's devices to detect or study disease-causing organisms. For further information, please visit www.idahotech.com.
Certain of the statements contained in this news release may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. To the extent that any of the statements contained herein relating to QIAGEN's products, markets, strategy or operating results are forward-looking, such statements are based on current expectations that involve a number of uncertainties and risks. Such uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, risks associated with management of growth and international operations (including the effects of currency fluctuations and risks of dependency on logistics), variability of operating results, the commercial development of the applied testing markets, clinical research markets and proteomics markets, nucleic acid-based molecular diagnostics market, and genetic vaccination and gene therapy markets, competition, rapid or unexpected changes in technologies, fluctuations in demand for QIAGEN's, products (including fluctuations due to the level and timing of customers' funding, budgets, and other factors), our ability to obtain regulatory approval of our infectious disease panels, difficulties in successfully adapting QIAGEN's products to integrated solutions and producing such products, the ability of QIAGEN to identify and develop new products and to differentiate its products from competitors' products, market acceptance of QIAGEN's new products and the integration of acquired technologies and businesses. For further information, refer to the discussions in reports that QIAGEN has filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).