Organon/Roche Patent Appeal

Akzo Nobel unit Organon Teknika's NASBA tests for HIV do not infringe Hoffmann-La Roche's patents, the District Court of The Hague, Netherlands, confirmed this month, in an appeal against a decision of a summary judgement. In other countries, litigation between the two companies is still pending, but OT says it is confident that it will also prevail in these cases.

OT's HIV NASBA tests are used to detect infection with the AIDS virus at a very early stage, and to optimally monitor the effect of AIDS therapy and adapt treatment when desirable. The tests use amplification technology, which can simply and quickly increase minute quantities of the genetic material from the AIDS virus to a detectable level. Other applications of this technology are being developed by OT.