F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd. decided to terminate for convenience the development, commercialization and license agreement with Pacific Biosciences of California Inc. for the development and supply of diagnostic products based on the company's genome sequencing SMRT technology.
Roche Holding AG is the holding company of F. Hoffman-La Roche.
F. Hoffman-La Roche will have no rights to the technology after the contract termination, other than retaining certain nonexclusive rights relating to using products already purchased from Pacific Biosciences.
Pacific Biosciences will be free to commercialize products based on the Sequel sequencing platform into the clinical research and sequencing market, directly or with other distribution partners. This system was developed during the collaboration period with F. Hoffman-La Roche and has achieved all the milestones set forth in the agreement, Pacific Biosciences CEO Michael Hunkapiller said in a statement.