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Byline: Ronald Rosenberg
Mar. 16--Genentech Inc. filed a lawsuit yesterday challenging Genzyme Corp.'s interpretation of a 9-year-old agreement under which Genzyme contends it would be owed royalties from Genentech's clot-busting agent TNKase.
"We are very surprised that they have sued us," said Thomas J. DesRosier, Genzyme's senior vice president and chief patent counsel. "TNKase is a second-generation drug that, under a 1992 settlement beween us, calls for them to pay us royalties. But I did not think they would sue us."
On Feb. 14, DesRosier sent a letter to Genentech, later followed up by a telephone call, claiming a Genzyme patent involved in the joint agreement obligates Genentech to pay $250,000 plus 2 percent royalties on sales of TNKase.
Genentech, in its lawsuit filed in US District Court in Delaware, disagrees. It is seeking a jury trial to prove that the technology in TNKase is different from technology covered by Genzyme's patent and does not violate the agreement.