PLEASANTON, California,
Jan. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Roche
(SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced today that the company has
entered into an agreement with QIAGEN that includes a provision of
non-exclusive licenses to recently granted Roche patents pertaining
to the detection of mutations in the EGFR pathway (including in the
KRAS gene). Financial details were not disclosed.
The licenses apply to testing products which detect these
mutations using molecular techniques including PCR, next generation
sequencing (NGS) and other applications to aid in identification of
cancer patients eligible for treatment with certain tyrosine kinase
inhibitors. The licenses can be applied to existing and future
products.
"As a leader in molecular assay development, we are pleased to
provide licenses to the applicable patents so that existing and new
tests can support patient treatment decisions," said Paul Brown, Head of Roche Molecular Diagnostics.
"Ensuring that assays that utilize Roche proprietary information
are fully licensed is a key business strategy for us."
"We are pleased with the agreement, which expands our existing
intellectual property portfolio covering more than 35 biomarkers
and our deep intellectual property estate in EGFR-related testing,
including KRAS- testing," said Dr. Achim
Ribbe, Vice President Corporate Business Development
Licensing. "As a global leader in personalized healthcare, QIAGEN
is working with numerous pharmaceutical companies to develop and
market molecular companion diagnostics that can help improve
patient outcomes and better utilize healthcare resources."
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,
immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and neuroscience.
Roche is also the world leader in in vitro diagnostics and
tissue-based cancer diagnostics, and a frontrunner in diabetes
management. Roche's personalised healthcare strategy aims at
providing medicines and diagnostics that enable tangible
improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of
patients. Founded in 1896, Roche has been making important
contributions to global health for more than a century. Twenty-four
medicines developed by Roche are included in the World Health
Organisation Model Lists of Essential Medicines, among them
life-saving antibiotics, antimalarials and chemotherapy.
In 2013 the Roche Group employed over 85,000 people worldwide,
invested 8.7 billion Swiss francs in
R&D and posted sales of 46.8 billion
Swiss francs. Genentech, in the
United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group.
Roche is the majority shareholder in Chugai Pharmaceutical,
Japan. For more information,
please visit www.roche.com.
All trademarks used or mentioned in this release are protected
by law.
For media inquiries please contact:
Bob Purcell, Roche Molecular
Diagnostics
888-545-2443
Claudia Panozzo, Austria
+43 1 277 87 360
Silvia Zucca, Italy
+39 039 2817 612
Francisco Aguilar-Alvarez,
Spain
+34 93583 4011
Eudes de Villiers, France
+33 4 76 76 31 26
Banu Kutlu, Turkey
00902123060606
Harald Borrmann, Switzerland
+41 41 799 6253
Kate Hoile, UK
+44 1444 256591
Jan Schreiber, Germany
+49 621 759 5156
Mike Weist, US
+1 317 521 3112