Medical device and orthopedics giant Zimmer Holdings (NYSE:ZMH) notched a win in an infringement battle against Genzyme Corp. (NSDQ:GENZ) after a jury ruled in Zimmer’s favor that its arthritis pain treatment doesn’t violate Genzyme’s patents.
A federal jury in Boston last week cleared Zimmer’s Gel-One, a single-injection treatment for treating arthritic pain in the knee, invalidating Genzyme’s patents for its Synvisc-One gel as obvious.
Genzyme in April 2011 sued Zimmer for distributing the Gel-One product, made by Tokyo-based Seikagaku, a month after the device won clearance for the U.S. market.
When the Gel-One product won FDA clearance in March 2011 it was only the 2nd single-injection arthritis treatment on the U.S. market, Bloomberg reported.
Late last year U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock ordered an injunction blocking Zimmer from giving out free samples of Gel-One or undercutting Genzyme by selling the product for less than $547.60 per injection. Both orders were vacated in light of the jury decision.
ZMH shares jumped 2.2% today, trading at $61.09 as of about 2:22 p.m. Share have regained value since marking a 3% dip following the medical device company trimmed its 2012 sales outlook and showed some softness in sales of knee and hip implants.
