Boston Scientific settles Cordis stent war for $716 million

September 30, 2009 By MassDevice staff

Boston Scientific Corp. agreed to shell out $716 million to settle 14 patent infringement suits with Cordis Corp., closing a major front in the stent wars.

The Natick, Mass.-based medical device giant said it will pay the settlement in cash using a reserve set aside for one of the lawsuits.

The suits aren’t the only cases pending between BSX and Cordis parent Johnson & Johnson, but president and CEO Ray Elliott said Boston Scientific will continue to work on resolving the others.

The settled cases, involving lawsuits in U.S., Canadian, Belgian, German, French and Italian courts, include the so-called Palmaz-NIR suit, involving a patent by the radiologist who invented stents, Julio Palmaz.

The estimated settlement cost in that case would make up most of the $716 million nut to settle it and the other 13 suits.

Johnson & Johnson owns that patent and in 2000 won a lawsuit alleging that an early BoSci stent, the NIR, infringed the technology, according to the Wall Street Journal (paid). Boston Scientific appealed, but told investors last year that it expected that case to cost at least $703 million.

At least three other lawsuits between the stent colossi still have a pulse, including a Cordis suit over Boston Scientific’s Express, Taxus, Taxus Liberté, Promus and NIR stents and a Boston Scientific suit over Cordis’ Cypher drug-eluting stent.

The announcement is not the first big-ticket settlement between medical device leviathans. In July, Medtronic paid $444 million to arch-rival Abbott to settle a stent patent lawsuit.

Here’s a complete list of the cases in the latest settlement:

Cordis Corp. v. Medtronic Vascular Inc., Boston Scientific Corp. et al.
Johnson & Johnson Inc., Expandable Grafts Partnership & Cordis Corp. v. Boston Scientific Ltd./Boston Scientifique LTEE
Johnson & Johnson Inc. v. Boston Scientific Ltd./Boston Scientifique LTEE
Boston Scientific Corp. v. Johnson & Johnson
Schneider (Europe) GmbH v. Johnson & Johnson Medical NV
Schneider (Europe) GmbH v. Cordis Medizinische Apparate GmbH
Schneider (Europe) GmbH v. Cordis
Schneider (Europe) GmbH v. Johnson & Johnson Medical S.P.A.
Cordis v. Schneider (damage request)
Boston Scientific Scimed Inc. v. Cordis Corp.
Boston Scientific Scimed Inc. v. Cordis Medizinische Apparate GmbH
Boston Scientific Scimed Inc. v. Cordis Medizinische Apparate GmbH
Scimed Life Systems Inc. v. Cordis Corp.
Cordis Corp. v. Scimed Life Systems Inc.

The George Floyd case has rocked a major U.S. medtech hub: Here’s what industry leaders think
Major medtech companies with a presence in the Minnesota have been calling for peace, unity and racial justice following the death of George Floyd in police custody and the resulting demonstrations and violence. Executives from Boston Scientific, Medtronic and the Medical Alley Association have penned open letters expressing their concerns and pledging to do better.… […]
Performance Motion Devices touts new Juno outer loop control ICs
Performance Motion Devices announced the launch of its Juno outer loop control ICs for use in medical, industrial and military applications. The Westford, Mass.-based company’s new Juno product joins a portfolio of velocity and toque control ICs (integrated circuits) used for spindle control, centrifuge control, precision torque control and other liquid handling and laboratory automation… […]
Lille Group releases Cardiac Signals cloud-based patient monitoring software
Lille Group announced today that it launched its Cardiac Signals cloud-based software platform for healthcare professionals to monitor cardiac patients remotely. The secure platform enables cardiology practices and hospitals to manage cardiac patients remotely with ease and efficiency, which is aimed to help during a potential telehealth boom as the COVID-19 pandemic continues and onsite… […]
The secret to building a successful medtech career
In this week’s DeviceTalks Weekly podcast, Edwards Lifesciences executive Dr. Todd Brinton shares the one trait he looks for in job candidates that can trump talent and ability. Brinton, who is VP of advanced technology and chief scientific officer at Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW), also offered tips on when candidates need to shift from conforming to differentiating.… […]
Medtronic is making its ‘artificial lung’ therapy available for COVID-19 treatment
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) is temporarily modifying product indications so that health providers can use its extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) technology to treat people with severe cases of COVID-19. ECMO could be described as a type of “artificial lung” technology that pumps blood from a person’s body to an oxygenator that provides long-term oxygen and carbon-dioxide transfer. Medtronic… […]
Using gold nanoparticles to detect COVID-19
Scientists from the University of Maryland School of Medicine have developed an experimental diagnostic test for COVID-19 that they say can visually detect the presence of the virus in 10 minutes. It uses a simple assay containing plasmonic gold nanoparticles to detect a color change when the virus is present. The test does not require… […]
Jama Software debuts medtech software
Jama Software (Portland, Ore.) announced this week that it has introduced new software for medical device development. The company described Jama Connect as a solution designed to help engineering teams better manage device requirements, risk and design control. The new software is also designed to make regulatory submissions and audit preparations a straightforward process and… […]
Could this fabric protect against a strain of coronavirus?
Noble Biomaterials announced today that third-party testing showed one of its metallized fabrics reduced the viability of a common, strong strain of coronavirus. In testing conducted by BioScience Laboratories, Noble Biomaterials’ X-Static fabric reduced the survival of human coronavirus OC43 six times faster than the unmetallized control fabric, according to the Scranton, Pa.-based company. X-Static… […]
How gas and liquid valves improve medtech performance and efficiency
While the miniature solenoid valves might be simple in their core technology, their continued evolution makes them valuable and effective components for controlling the flow, direction and pressure of gases and fluids in today’s medical devices. Paul Gant, Emerson Automation Solutions With automated functions, excellent reliability and long life, it’s no surprise that gas and liquid… […]
Astrodyne TDI and Digi-Key Electronics join forces
Power supply and EMI filter manufacturer Astrodyne TDI announced today that it has joined Digi-Key Electronics’ DK+ Marketplace, a new B2B electronics sales site open to suppliers and distributors to offer their products and services on DigiKey.com. This new venture will make Astrodyne TDI’s medical and industrial power solutions available for immediate delivery to Digi-Key’s engineering… […]
How to meet challenges with innovative machining
CNC is a technique for automating control of machine tools using software rooted in a microcomputer affixed to the tool. It is frequently used in manufacturing for machining metal and plastic parts. John Cross, Micro Data drive the accuracy and efficiency of the computerized numerical control (CNC) machines coming onto the market today. The latest… […]