MicroProbe deal

Procter & Gamble agreed to commit up to $2 million in R&D funding for MPRO's DNA probe-based diagnostics program. The investment continues the companies' 1993 agreement to evaluate the clinical efficacy of MPRO's Affirm DP microbial identification test system for periodontal disease.

The technology is part of a patent dispute with Chugai Pharmaceuticals Co.'s Gen-Probe subsidiary. In May, MPRO (Bothell, Wash.) withdrew its Affirm VP line of DNA probe-based diagnostics to avoid the costs of litigating a patent dispute. Gen-Probe's suit alleged that MPRO was Infringing U.S. Patent No.4,851,330, which covers the detection, identification and quantification of non-viral organisms through the targeting of ribosomal RNA sequences. ...