Patent Infringement Dispute

26 Oct 2007 07:01

Oxford Biomedica PLC26 October 2007 For Immediate Release 26 OCTOBER 2007 OXFORD BIOMEDICA AND SIGMA-ALDRICH WIN KEY RULING IN OPEN BIOYSTEMS PATENT INFRINGEMENT DISPUTE Oxford, UK and St. Louis, Mo - 26 October 2007: Oxford BioMedica (LSE: OXB), aleading gene therapy company, and Sigma-Aldrich (NASDAQ:SIAL), a life sciencecompany dedicated to providing state-of-the-art chemical and biotechnologyproducts to the world's researchers, announced today that they received a keyorder confirming the strength and validity of intellectual property owned byOxford BioMedica and licensed exclusively in the research field toSigma-Aldrich. The ruling was part of the construction of patent claim terms inthe patent infringement suit brought against Open Biosystems, Inc. The lawsuit,which is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District ofMissouri, alleges that Open Biosystems infringes U.S. Patent Nos. 6,924,123 and7,056,699 entitled Lentiviral LTR Deleted Vector, which are owned by OxfordBioMedica and exclusively licensed to Sigma-Aldrich for research use, byselling, among other products, Open Biosystems' Lentiviral shRNAmir Library. Inhis order U.S. District Judge Charles A. Shaw concluded "that the constructionsof the disputed terms and phrases proposed by plaintiff are correct." David Smoller, President, Research Biotechnology Business Unit of Sigma-Aldrichsaid: "We are gratified and very pleased that the Court has adopted Sigma's andOxford's definitions of all disputed claim terms in this case. This Orderreinforces Sigma's belief that the Oxford BioMedica patents are "core patents"in the RNA-interference field, and validates Sigma's decision to license thesepatents and make other significant investments in creating a comprehensiveportfolio of intellectual property that allows our customers to use thisextraordinary technology without fear of interference or unfair competition. Wewill continue to vigorously defend Oxford's extraordinary inventions and Sigma'sinvestment in this valuable intellectual property." Peter Nolan, SVP Commercial Development at Oxford BioMedica said "I am delightedwith this Order, which validates Oxford BioMedica's patents and strengthens ourposition in this field." Oxford BioMedica's LentiVector(R) system has broadapplications in gene delivery and can be used to deliver shRNA-encoding DNA tocells to enable RNA Interference (RNAi) experiments. Based on discoveries byOxford BioMedica's Drs. Susan and Alan Kingsman and others, scientists are nowable to safely use modified lentiviruses as vectors, which enable RNAi to beeffectively utilised as a research tool to unlock the secrets of the geneticcode. As stated in the Court's Order, the viral vector developed by theKingsmans is expected to be useful as a "smart bomb" to safely "deliver newgenetic material into specific cells, such as cells that do not divide or thatdivide slowly," giving the delivery of genes that produce dopamine into aParkinson's disease patient's brain cells, as an example. "Sigma believes this technology holds huge promise to better understand thehuman genome and to, ultimately, help devise techniques to defeat and diminishlongstanding misery-causing diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's," saidSmoller. -Ends- For further information, please contact: Oxford BioMedica plc:Professor Alan Kingsman, Chief Executive Tel: +44 (0)1865 783 000 City/Financial Enquiries:Lisa Baderoon/ Mark Court/ Mary-Jane Johnson Tel: +44 (0)20 7466 5000Buchanan Communications Scientific/Trade Press Enquiries:Gemma Price/ Holly Griffiths/ Katja Stout Tel: +44 (0)20 7268 3002Northbank Communications Notes to editors 1. Oxford BioMedica Oxford BioMedica (LSE: OXB) is a biopharmaceutical company specialising in thedevelopment and commercialisation of novel therapeutic vaccines and gene-basedtherapies with a focus on oncology and neurotherapy. The Company was establishedin 1995 as a spin-out from Oxford University, and is listed on the London StockExchange. The Company has a platform of gene delivery technologies, which are based onhighly engineered viral systems. Oxford BioMedica also has in-house clinical,regulatory and manufacturing know-how. In oncology, the lead product candidateis TroVax(R), an immunotherapy for multiple solid cancers, which is licensed tosanofi-aventis for global development and commercialisation. A Phase III trialof TroVax in renal cancer is ongoing and sanofi-aventis is implementing adevelopment plan for colorectal cancer. Oxford BioMedica's oncology pipelineincludes a specific immunotherapy candidate, Hi-8(R) MEL, for melanoma, whichhas completed two clinical trials. In neurotherapy, the Company's lead product,ProSavin(R), is expected to enter clinical development for Parkinson's diseasein late 2007 or early 2008. The neurotherapy pipeline also includes preclinicalgene-based therapeutics for vision loss, motor neuron disease and nerve repair. The Company is underpinned by over 80 patent families, which represent one ofthe broadest patent estates in the field. The Company has a staff ofapproximately 80 split between its main facilities in Oxford and its whollyowned subsidiary, BioMedica Inc, in San Diego, California. Corporate partnersinclude sanofi-aventis for TroVax and Wyeth for the targeted antibody therapy.The Company also has collaborations with Sigma-Aldrich, MolMed and Virxsys.Technology licensees include Biogen Idec, Merck & Co, GlaxoSmithKline andPfizer. Further information is available at www.oxfordbiomedica.co.uk 2. Sigma-Aldrich Sigma-Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High Technology company. Itsbiochemical and organic chemical products and kits are used in scientific andgenomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, the diagnosis ofdisease and as key components in pharmaceutical and other high technologymanufacturing. The Company has customers in life science companies, universityand government institutions, hospitals, and in industry. Over one millionscientists and technologists use its products. Sigma-Aldrich operates in 36countries and has 7,800 employees providing excellent service worldwide.Sigma-Aldrich is committed to Accelerating Customer Success through Leadershipin Life Science, High Technology and Service. For more information aboutSigma-Aldrich, please visit its award-winning Web site at http://www.sigma-aldrich.com. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange