Third Wave agrees to drop Chiron, Bayer patent lawsuits

Madison, Wis. — Third Wave Technologies Inc. said it has reached an agreement with Chiron Corp., Bayer Corp., and Bayer HealthCare, LLC, to dismiss Third Wave's patent lawsuit.

Third Wave said that no licenses or payments were made and did not disclose other terms of the agreement.

This leaves Third Wave with only one remaining open patent lawsuit. Its dispute with Stratagene Corp. is on appeal after a court awarded Third Wave damages. Stratagene recently posted a $21-million bond in Third Wave's name that secures damages and attorneys' fees.

Third Wave resolved its lawsuit with Innogenetics N.V. in early February by buying a non-exclusive license to that company's HCV patent after evaluating the cost of the license versus the cost of continuing to litigate the suit. The company reached an agreement with Digene Corp. in January under which the companies agreed not to bring suit over human papilloma virus, or HPV, patents against one another for one year.

Third Wave develops and markets molecular diagnostic reagents for a variety of DNA and RNA analysis applications.