Affymetrix Jumps 20% on License-Dispute Victory
A U.K. appeals court reverses an earlier ruling.
Dane Hamilton
Nov 2, 2000 11:54 AM EST
Affymetrix
(AFFX)
shares surged after the leading gene-chip company won a big patent case in the U.K., assuaging investors worried about a raft of litigation surrounding the company.
Affymetrix's Thursday rally
Affymetrix shares were up $12.31, or 21%, to $72.50.
Affymetrix Thursday said the
U.K. Court of Appeal
unanimously agreed that the Santa Clara, Calif., biotech company has rights to patents held by a
(BEC)
business it purchased in 1999. A private company named
Oxford Gene Technology
claimed rights to the patents, known as the Southern Patents after Oxford's founder.
"This is extremely good news," says Ellen Lubman, a
Robertson Stephens
analyst who has a strong buy rating on Affymetrix. "It's definitely the biggest court decision yet for Affymetrix and hopefully means it will prevail in other actions." Robbie Stephens has underwritten for Affymetrix.
The decision by the U.K.'s highest court overturns an earlier decision in April in the U.K. High Court, in a case brought by Oxford Gene. But Affymetrix is still battling the same legal fight against Oxford in a Delaware court.
"In light of this decision, Affymetrix now looks forward to a determination in the U.S. District Court in Delaware that its current products are not covered by any valid OGT claim, in which case Affymetrix may no longer need to pay royalties to OGT," said Phil McGarrigle, chief patent lawyer for Affymetrix.
Affymetrix off highs
Affymetrix has nearly 100 patents covering its technology used in scores of drug research labs involved in genetic analysis. But the stock has been depressed over worries over its intellectual property
litigation with companies including
Hyseq
(HYSQ)
PE Biosystems
(PEB) - Get Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Report
Incyte
(INCY) - Get Incyte Corporation Report
. The stock continues to sell well below its 52-week high of $163.50.
And while Affymetrix was a pioneer in putting genetic information on silicon chips in its GeneChip products, it is facing new competition from companies including
(A) - Get Agilent Technologies, Inc. Report
, a spinout from
(HWP)
, along with
(GLW) - Get Corning Inc Report
(MOT)
. All these companies aim to jump into a fast-growing $500 million market for "microarrays."
StocksPharmaceuticalsInvestingBiotechnology