SALT LAKE CITY and SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jan. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cepheid and Idaho Technology, Inc. announced today that they have entered into a settlement and cross-license agreement to resolve a dispute related to Idaho Technology and Cepheid intellectual property in rapid polymerase chain reaction methods and instrumentation, the use of SYBR(R) Green I in PCR reactions, and certain methods of analysis of real-time PCR data.
The settlement agreement resolves all claims asserted in the United States District Court for the District of Utah. Idaho Technology and its licensor, University of Utah Research Foundation, initiated the lawsuit in 2005, claiming infringement on three of their patents. As a result of the settlement and cross-license agreement, the action will be dismissed, and each of the parties have paid-up licenses under certain of the other's patents to continue to make and sell their respective lines of products. Cepheid made a one-time payment to Idaho of $3.35 million under the agreement.
"ITI is pleased to have reached a settlement with Cepheid that allows both companies to continue to offer innovative instrumentation, chemistry, and data analysis solutions for their customers," said Randy Rasmussen, Chief Operating Officer for Idaho Technology.
"We are pleased that Idaho Technology and Cepheid have reached an agreement supportive of both Idaho Technology and Cepheid intellectual property," said John L. Bishop, Cepheid's Chief Executive Officer.
About Cepheid
Cepheid , based in Sunnyvale, CA., is a molecular diagnostics company that develops, manufactures, and markets fully-integrated systems for genetic analysis in the clinical, industrial and biothreat markets. The company's systems enable rapid, sophisticated genetic testing for organisms and genetic-based diseases by automating otherwise complex manual laboratory procedures. The company's easy-to-use systems integrate a number of complicated and time-intensive steps, including sample preparation, DNA amplification and detection, which enable the analysis of complex biological samples in its proprietary test cartridges. Through its strong molecular biology capabilities, the company is focusing on those applications where rapid molecular testing is particularly important, such as identifying infectious disease and cancer in the clinical market; food, agricultural, and environmental testing in the industrial market; and identifying bio-terrorism agents in the biothreat market. See http://www.cepheid.com/ for more information.
About Idaho Technology, Inc.
Idaho Technology Inc. is the birthplace of rapid DNA analysis including, real-time DNA amplification and mutation analysis. Idaho Technology's biothreat detection system, the JBAIDS (Joint Biological Agent Identification and Diagnostic System) is used by all branches of the military for force protection from biothreat agents. Biomedical researchers around the world rely on the LightCycler(R) and the LightScanner(R) systems, developed by Idaho Technology, for gene quantification and mutation discovery. The food industry uses Idaho Technology's R.A.P.I.D.(R) LT instruments and chemistry to help protect the food supply. Idaho Technology, based in Salt Lake City, Utah is a privately held company founded in 1990. For more information, please visit http://www.idahotech.com/.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are not purely historical regarding Cepheid's or its management's intentions, beliefs, expectations and strategies for the future, including those relating to product performance and timing of expansion in the clinical diagnostics market. Because such statements deal with future events, they are subject to various risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from the company's current expectations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include risks and uncertainties such as those relating to: development and manufacturing problems; our ability to successfully obtain regulatory approvals and introduce new products in the clinical market; the performance and market acceptance of new products; the failure of products to perform as expected, whether due to manufacturing errors, defects or otherwise; the impact of competitive products and pricing; and underlying market conditions worldwide. Readers should also refer to the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Cepheid's Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2004 and "Factors that Might Affect Future Results" in its most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q, each filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
All forward-looking statements and reasons why results might differ included in this release are made as of the date of this press release, based on information currently available to Cepheid, and Cepheid assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement or reasons why results might differ.
CONTACTS:
At Cepheid:
John L. Bishop John R. Sluis
Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer
408-541-4191 408-541-4191
