A Diagnostics & Imaging Week
Immunicon (Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania) reported that it is seeking to end its exclusive arrangement with Veridex (Warren, New Jersey), a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson (New Brunswick, New Jersey).
In a demand filed with the American Arbitration Association (New York), Immunicon seeks termination of the 20-year exclusive worldwide agreement with Veridex to sell Immunicon’s cancer diagnostic products, revocation of all licenses held by Veridex under that agreement, and compensatory and punitive damages based on “repudiation and fundamental breaches by Veridex of its contractual, agency and other fiduciary obligations to market, sell and distribute Immunicon’s cancer diagnostic products.”
Veridex is appointed as exclusive sales agent, licensee and distributor responsible for selling Immunicon’s cancer diagnostic products and remitting royalties on sales of reagent kits to Immunicon. In its arbitration demand, Immunicon alleges that Veridex breached its “obligation to use its best efforts to market” those products by “squander[ing] the opportunity to promptly and aggressively launch the Immunicon products in 2004” and thereafter “reneg[ing] on its express commitment to engage and deploy sales representatives to personally promote, or detail, the Immunicon products to doctors.”
According to the demand, “[w]hile seriously damaging to Immunicon and its shareholders, Veridex’s actions are depriving cancer patients — who are in severe need of the best treatment and testing — and their doctors of Immunicon’s FDA-approved cancer diagnostic tests.”
Immunicon wants the arbitration to take place before a single arbitrator, and an award rendered within six months. Selection of the arbitrator is expected to occur within 45 days. Immunicon has retained Jonathan Lerner, of the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom to represent it in the arbitration.
Immunicon develops cell- and molecular-based human diagnostic and life science research products, and is providing certain analytical services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to assist them in developing new therapeutic agents, with an initial focus on cancer disease management.
In other agreements news:
• Home Access Health (Hoffman Estates, Illinois), a personalized diagnostics company, said it has entered into a multi-year relationship with the American Diabetes Association (ADA; Alexandria, Virginia) to increase the prevention and detection of “cardiometabolic” risk factors, which pose a danger to good health and can lead to the development of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Through community-based screenings, this effort will target faith-based and employer wellness programs, the company said.
ADA and its subsidiary, Shaping America’s Health, will co-brand Home Access’ next-generation home kits with ADA’s “CheckUp America” initiative which focuses on helping Americans lower their diabetes and heart disease risk.
The factors which comprise one’s “cardiometabolic risk” include, high blood glucose, high LDL (bad) cholesterol, high triglycerides, low HDL (good) cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, being overweight and physical inactivity. Those screened for cholesterol, diabetes and blood pressure will receive their test results from Home Access and follow-up consultation through Home Access’ call center.
This collaboration integrates proven methodologies for managing and lowering health risks through health risk assessments, highly-accurate diagnostics testing, medical counseling, referrals, and patient support services, according to Home Access Health.
• Cholestech (Hayward, California), a provider of alternate site health management solutions for chronic disease, said it has teamed up with Onsite Health Diagnostics (Southlake, Texas), a provider of on-site corporate health screenings. The agreement, valued at an estimated $3 million dollars over the next three years, establishes Cholestech LDX testing system as the preferred device for Onsite screeners to monitor for risk factors associated with stroke, heart disease, diabetes and inflammatory disorders.
Onsite says it brings state-of-the-art sonograms, screening equipment and technicians to the workplaces, at a fraction of the cost charged by hospitals and physicians with minimal interruption. Onsite offers similar services to government agencies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and other organizations.