Sequenom, Agena Face Lawsuit in India

Indian firm AceProbe is suing Sequenom and Agena Bioscience over an alleged wrongful termination of a distribution agreement for the MassArray system.

The firm has asked the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi to declare the termination of the agreement illegal and issue an injunction against another firm acting as a distributor for the platform and reagents.

Sequenom sold its bioscience business, which included the MassArray mass spectrometry-based platform for measuring genetic target material and variations and related reagents, to Agena in June 2014 for $31.8 million.

In an August 2014 letter submitted to the court, Agena Asia Pacific Vice President Jeff Bryant told AceProbe Managing Director Puneet Chandna that Agena would end the relationship between the two firms. Bryant stated that there existed "no current signed distribution agreement in place between our two companies."

AceProbe submitted that on Jan. 1, 2014, Bryant, acting as Sequenom's director of business for the Asia-Pacific region, certified AceProbe as the exclusive distribution partner for all its products and services until Jan. 1, 2016.