Boston Scientific Keeps Us Guessing on Recent Legal Victory

Boston Scientific has a big decision to make in Germany, and the clock is ticking. Earlier this week, a German court sided with Boston Scientific in a patent case involving its transcatheter aortic valve replacement technology. The court decided that Edwards Lifesciences' Sapien 3 Ultra device infringed on a patent by Boston Scientific subsidiary Symetis that has to do with the fabric used on the valve seal. Edwards plans to appeal the decision and said the German court will hold a full hearing on the dispute next year. In the meantime, Boston Scientific has the right to prevent sales of the Sapien 3 Ultra in Germany. It is unclear at this point if the company will enforce that right or not, but it only has 30 days to decide, putting the deadline at Nov. 23. The Sapien 3 Ultra valve is not on the market yet and the latest court decision has no effect on sales of the Sapien 3 or Centera valves. Edwards expects to receive a CE mark for the Sapien 3 Ultra valve during the fourth quarter and is planning to implement a controlled rollout of the new device that will include training.Boston Scientific currently offers the Acurate neo transcatheter aortic valve system (inherited through its Symetis acquisition) in some European markets and is seeking a CE mark for a second-generation version of that device, which is expected during the first half of next year. The company also has the Lotus Edge system, which received a CE mark in 2016 but has been plagued by problems eve...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Business Source Type: news