In its continuing effort to protect its product innovation and investment in Research and Development, Roquette Frères filed suit for patent infringement against SPI Pharma, Inc. and Drytec Ltd., in the US District Court for the District of Delaware.

The complaint alleges that the defendants' spray-dried mannitol products including Mannogem EZ spray dried Mannitol infringe Roquette's patented technology.

The Roquette US Patent Nr. 5,573,777, filed in 1993, protects a new physical form of mannitol that maximizes performance as a directly compressible excipient in the pharmaceutical industry. Roquette's mannitol (Pearlitol) offers excellent tableting characteristics as well as the advantage of being non-cariogenic and non-hygroscopic. Its uniquely controlled particle size distribution also allows good flow and dissolution properties while minimizing dust and preventing explosions during production or packaging.

Roquette is a world leader in polyols (sugar alcohols) and is also one of Europe's largest and most advanced starch producers. Roquette is a private family business dedicated to long-term development, with production facilities in Europe, North America and Asia.