Roche and Life Technologies Corporation Sign New PCR IVD Licenses

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Feb 22, 2012, 12:00 ET

PLEASANTON, Calif., Feb. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) and Life Technologies Corporation (LTC) announced today that they have entered into two license agreements to allow LTC to expand its PCR offerings for diagnostics applications.

Under these two agreements, Roche has granted LTC an in vitro diagnostics product license to all of Roche's patents for real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) as well as other important PCR-related technology in the diagnostics field. Also covered in these agreements are reagents and methods of using SYBR Green I technology, melting curve analysis for real-time PCR, and rights to use high-resolution melting-curve analysis (HRM) technology in the diagnostics field. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

The melting curve analysis is a technique for analysis of PCR products. After amplification, the resulting PCR product is slowly heated. Each double-stranded DNA has its own specific melting temperature (Tm) which is defined as the temperature at which 50% of the DNA becomes single stranded. By measurement of Tm using an intercalating dye, variations in the amplified DNA can be identified. This valuable intellectual property portfolio has been extensively licensed by Roche in cooperation with Idaho Technology, Inc.

Paul Brown, Head of Roche Molecular Diagnostics said "Roche has a broad, active out-licensing program for its PCR-based intellectual property portfolio. By continuing to out-license this technology, we contribute to the development of well-validated techniques within the diagnostics field."

About Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world's largest biotech company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS. Roche is also the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer in diabetes management. Roche's personalized healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. In 2011, Roche had over 80,000 employees worldwide and invested over 8 billion Swiss francs in R&D. The Group posted sales of 42.5 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information: www.roche.com.

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SOURCE Roche