(SkyNewswire.com)--- Hausfeld LLP, a global claimants’ law firm dedicated to handling large and complex litigation matters for individuals, corporations and organizations, today announced the distribution of settlement funds in Molecular Diagnostics Laboratories v. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., et al. (D.D.C.), an antitrust class action brought in September 2004 on behalf of a genetic diagnostic laboratory that purchased Thermus aquaticus DNA polymerase (“Taq”) directly from defendants Roche and Applera and their subsidiaries, affiliates, and predecessors.
Hausfeld LLP serves as co-lead counsel in this case, where in September 2008 the parties reached a $33 million settlement that was later approved by the Court on December 29, 2008.
The distribution of settlement funds announced today will be made available to over one thousand Class members around the country, including university laboratories studying the genetic basis of disease, leading cancer institutes and medical centers, state and local police departments, and forensic laboratories engaged in crime investigation.
1,256 claimants will participate in the settlement fund and recover over 15% of their purchases across the relevant product groups at issue in the case – a substantial recovery for cases of this nature.
“Our ability to achieve a strong recovery and claims rate in this case ensures that the maximum number of Class members will significantly benefit from the distribution of Taq settlement funds announced today,” said Brian Ratner, Partner, Hausfeld LLP. “Class members in this case make a critically important contribution to the nation’s health and safety: university laboratories across the country, leading cancer institutes, medical centers and other impacted organizations can apply these funds to their respective and very worthy causes.”
Additional Case Information
In Molecular Diagnostics Laboratories v. Hoffman-LaRoche Inc., et al., Case No. 1:04-CV-01649 (HHK), U.S.D.C., District of the District of Columbia, Plaintiff, on behalf of itself and those similarly situated, sought to recover the supra-competitive overcharges it and other direct purchasers paid as a result of defendants’ alleged scheme to fraudulently obtain a patent on Taq and to use that patent to force competitors out of the market so defendants could charge monopoly prices for Taq. Plaintiff also claimed that defendants’ fraudulent procurement and enforcement of the Taq patent inhibited, among other things, potential advances in molecular biology and pathology, and the treatment of life-threatening diseases such as cancer, AIDS, and heart disease. Taq is used to allow scientists and researchers to work with DNA.
For more information about the case and settlement, visit: http://www.hausfeldllp.com/pages/current_investigations/156/taq
or
http://www.completeclaimsolutions.com/taq/.
About Hausfeld LLP
Hausfeld LLP, based in Washington, DC, is a global claimants’ law firm providing litigation services in the areas of antitrust/competition law, consumer fraud, human rights violations, product liability, civil rights, and environmental law. In addition to the Washington office, the firm has operations in New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and London. For additional information about Hausfeld LLP and its services, please visit http://www.hausfeldllp.com.
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