Stimwave
today announced it will cease all sales of its high-frequency spinal cord stimulation systems in exchange for dismissal of a patent infringement lawsuit brought by rival Nevro (NYSE:NVRO). No damages were awarded to Nevro under the settlement.
Redwood City, Calif.-based Nevro brought the suit in February 2019, alleging that Stimwave infringed on patents related to Nevro’s Senza system and HF10 therapy. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Delaware, sought preliminary and permanent injunctive relief against further infringement as well as damages and attorney’s fees.
Under the settlement, the neuromodulation therapy alternative developer agreed to the permanent injunction that bars it from marketing products that deliver pulse frequencies between 1,500 Hz and 100,000 Hz. The settlement does not affect Stimwave’s peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) business, the company said.
Stimwave had marketed its Freedom spinal cord stimulator as the world’s smallest neurostimulator, designed to treat chronic pain through a needle in the epidural space, spinal column or next to peripheral nerves. The Freedom stimulator has been commercially available in Europe since 2013 and in the U.S. and Australia since 2014. Freedom and the company’s StimQ PNS system are designed to reduce the risks associated with implantable pulse generators that contain lithium-ion batteries.
“The new management team at Stimwave is pleased to put this litigation from past management behind us,” said Paul LaViolette, Stimwave’s chairman and interim CEO, in a news release. “We will continue to focus commercialization on the tiny form factor of our Freedom neurostimulators, which can be used throughout the body, eliminate the need for large internal batteries, and are fully MRI compatible. Those attributes are the key to our products’ consistent double-digit annual growth and potential to disrupt both the spinal cord and peripheral nerve neuromodulation market.”
Stimwave announced in November that would stop selling its product in Australia until its entire product family can be legally marketed in the country. StimQ PNS had been under review in Australia since 2017 without winning approval.
Share in NVRO were down 4.77% to $129.19 in mid-day trading.
