Trinity Biotech, the Bray-based biotechnology group, has been sued by Organon Teknike for an alleged infringement of an Organon patent related to tests for the Epstein-Barr infection associated with patients with AIDS and cancer.
A spokesman for Trinity said he did not know what the action was about as he had not seen the papers. However, he stressed that it would be immaterial to the group. Trinity, he added, bought a British company in July 1997, and immediately ceased one of its products and informed Organon. No reply was received. "It must be a mistake, but I won't be losing any sleep over this one", he said.
Organon, the pharmaceutical unit of Akzo Nobel, alleged in the lawsuit filed in the US District Court in Delaware, that Trinity has been selling diagnostic kits embodying the patent.
It is seeking an order prohibiting Trinity and Trinity Biotech USA Corp from further alleged infringement. The action also seeks unspecified damages. According to the papers filed, Akzo assigned the 1995 patent for "peptides and nucleic acid sequences related to the Epstein-Barr virus" to Organon.
Trinity manufactures diagnostic kits. Its 90 products include tests for pregnancy, HIV and other sexually-transmitted diseases. The group is quoted on Nasdaq. Its latest results showed a more than doubling of after-tax profits to $1.1 million in the second quarter of this year. Earnings per share were 77 per cent higher at 3.9 cents.
