Xenogen Denies AntiCancer's Allegations and
Claims AntiCancer Infringes Certain Xenogen Patents
ALAMEDA, Calif., May 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Xenogen Corporation
(Nasdaq: XGEN), maker of advanced imaging systems including instruments,
biological solutions and software to accelerate drug discovery and
development, today announced that it filed with the court its answer to a
patent infringement complaint filed by AntiCancer Inc. Concurrent with filing
its answer, Xenogen filed counterclaims against AntiCancer claiming that
AntiCancer infringes two Xenogen patents.
On March 7, 2005, AntiCancer filed a lawsuit against Xenogen in the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of California alleging infringement
of five patents of AntiCancer relating to fluorescence-based imaging. The
complaint does not specify the factual basis of the allegedly infringing
conduct. The complaint seeks damages and injunctive relief against the
alleged infringement. On March 29, 2005, AntiCancer amended its complaint to
include an additional claim seeking a judgment that one of Xenogen's imaging
patents, 5,650,135, is invalid.
On May 10, 2005, Xenogen filed its answer to AntiCancer's amended
complaint. Xenogen denied all of AntiCancer's allegations and asserted
various affirmative defenses, including its position that AntiCancer's
patents, including some of the patents cited in its complaint, and patent
claims relating to in vivo imaging of fluorescence, are invalid. Xenogen is
vigorously defending itself against AntiCancer's claims and believes
AntiCancer's complaint is without merit
Concurrent with filing its answer to AntiCancer's complaint, Xenogen filed
its own counterclaims against AntiCancer. Xenogen's counterclaims allege that
AntiCancer infringes two of Xenogen's U.S. patents, 5,650,135 and 6,649,143,
both relating to in vivo imaging and with a priority date before AntiCancer's
patents cited in its amended complaint. Xenogen intends to vigorously pursue
its claims against AntiCancer.
Xenogen and AntiCancer are also involved in litigation that commenced in
2001. In that lawsuit, AntiCancer alleges the following five causes of action
against Xenogen: trade libel, defamation, intentional interference with
contract, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage and
unfair competition. A September 2005 trial has been scheduled for this
lawsuit. Xenogen believes the complaint is without merit and it is mounting a
vigorous defense.
These lawsuits may be expensive, take significant time and may divert
Xenogen management's attention from other business concerns. The patent
infringement lawsuits will put certain of Xenogen's patents at risk of being
invalidated or interpreted narrowly. Additionally, Xenogen may suffer reduced
instrumentation sales and/or license revenue as a result of the pending
lawsuits or following final resolution of the lawsuits. Xenogen may not
successfully defend itself against AntiCancer's claims, and could have
monetary damages or other remedies levied against it that could adversely
impact Xenogen's financial position or operations. Xenogen may not prevail in
its patent infringement counterclaims against AntiCancer and any damage or
other remedies awarded to Xenogen, if any, may not be commercially valuable.
During the course of the lawsuits, there may be public announcements of
results of hearings, motions and other interim proceedings or developments in
the litigations. If securities analysts or others perceive any of these
results to be negative, it could cause our stock price to decline.
About Xenogen Corporation
Xenogen combines systems biology and low-light optical imaging to create
powerful new biophotonic imaging technology that advances the ability of
scientists to explore genes, proteins, pathogens and tumor cells in living
animals in real time, providing predictive data that is designed to
substantially improve the success rate in drug development. Xenogen
incorporates into living animals the bioluminescent gene that makes a firefly
glow and harnesses the resulting light using an ultra-sensitive camera and
sophisticated software. This biophotonic imaging technology creates images and
analyzes the resulting data on cellular activity, gene expression, and spread
of disease or the effect of a new drug candidate. Xenogen's biophotonic
imaging technology is used by leading academics and pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies to provide more accurate and previously unavailable
data that is intended to result in the ability to make more timely and
cost-effective decisions at every step in the drug development process.
SOURCE Xenogen Corporation
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Related links:
http://www.xenogen.com
CONTACT:
William A. Albright, Chief Financial Officer
of Xenogen Corporation, +1-510-291-6100, or Jim Byers or Jordan
Goldstein, both of Financial Dynamics, +1-415-439-4500, both for
Xenogen
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