ROCHE LOOSENS PCR STRANGLEHOLD

Hoffmann-La Roche subsidiary Roche Molecular Systems and the Perkin-Elmer Corporation have granted a license to Boehringer Mannheim providing the German company with worldwide rights to manufacture and sell Taq DNA polymerase and other thermostable enzymes and reagents for use in developing in vitro diagnostics using the polymerase chain reaction.

Under the terms of the agreement, Perkin-Elmer, the exclusive distributor of PCR products manufactured by RMS for applications other than in vitro diagnostics, will receive royalty payments, along with Roche, from all BM's resulting PCR-based kits. The licensing agreement is a non-exclusive contract valid for the lifetime of Roche's PCR patents.

Dennert Ware, president of Boehringer Mannheim Biochemical Products Division in the USA, said that the new deal puts the company in a strong position in the diagnostics market. "In the past, we were limited to the marketing of pre- and post-PCR application products. Now, we can offer our entire range of PCR application products including nucleotides, molecular biology enzymes and DNA purification reagents," he said. Boehringer Mannheim already sells Taq DNA polymerase for non-PCR applications (although they are clearly unable to police how researchers actually use it).