Chiron's Blood Screening Gambit: Checkmate or Stalemate?

Executive Summary

Chiron's HCV patents have given it enormous clout over the blood banking market. HCV screening is essential in blood testing. Chiron's leverage makes blood screening a cash cow that is protected from competition in a guaranteed market for at least another six years. Plus, Chiron has effective control over access to the only new and growing portion of the market--NAT, a DNA-based probe methodology that can be used for earlier detection of hepatitis and retrovirus. The question for Chrion is not whether it can benefit from the opportunity in NAT, but how to maximize its returns to generate revenues it can use to fund its long-term gene therapy and genomics programs.