Orthopedics giant Smith & Nephew said it has leased a 26,000-sq ft. plant in Durham, NC that will house a new line of business that focuses on biologic therapies and spine products, Triangle Business Journal reports. The company says the division will be “exploring and commercializing next generation biologic therapies for our orthopedic and advanced wound management businesses,” but provided few other details. It selected Durham because it wanted access to the area’s many universities and research organizations.
– From DeviceTalk.
In just two years, DePuy Spine Inc. has launched 18 new products. Today the company announced two cage systems that provide surgeons with more implant options for multilevel corpectomies. The BENGAL Stackable Cage System and the X-MESH Expandable Cage System are vertebral body replacement (VBR) systems. The BENGAL is the first VBR system that has single-piece and stackable implants, while the X-MESH is the first VBR system to come in three specific shapes for anterolateral, direct anterior, and posterior approaches. Â
DePuy’s newest products have included devices for the aging spine, cervical degeneration, deformity, interbody fusion, trauma, vertebral body replacement, and minimally invasive spine surgery. Â
Medtronic’s Endeavor drug-eluting stent has lagged behind Abbott’s Xience V and other rivals because it is not sold with the rapid exchange catheter, a delivery system that a lot of cardiologists prefer. The patent is held by Abbott and expires this year. But Abbott is seeking a three-year extension on it until 2011, under a rule that sometimes allows patent holders to make up time that was lost waiting for regulatory approval. So Medtronic has gone to court to try to get the extension request denied, Bloomberg News reports. If it succeeds, it will be able to sell the rapid exchange catheter when its patent expires on Oct. 29. A federal court heard arguments last week.
Medtronic has been banned from selling the rapid exchange catheter with its products since 2001, when it lost a patent case where it was accused of selling a knockoff. The firm developed an alternative delivery system, but it never came in to favor with cardiologists. Before the rapid exchange catheter, stent delivery was a complicated process that took at least two people to perform.
Endeavor holds about 12-15% of the DES market, compared to 50% for Xience and Boston Scientific’s Promus, which is the same thing as Xience. Medtronic hopes that if Endeavor is sold with the rapid exchange catheter, it can close that gap.
– From DeviceTalk.
UPDATE: The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Abbott a one-year patent extension.
Boston Scientific said it will appeal a $700 million verdict against it after a United States District Court judge in Delaware found that it had violated a Johnson & Johnson patent covering stent technology. The suit, originally filed in 1997, concerned Boston Scientific’s NIR stent, which it hasn’t sold since 2004. Last month, the court denied Boston Scientific’s motion for a new trial and approved J&J’s motion for entry of judgment. The decision awarded J&J about $400 million in damages and about $300 million in interest.
– From DeviceTalk.
