Abbott, Boston Scientific sued over drug-coated heart stents
Wyeth and Johnson & Johnson's Cordis unit sued Abbott Laboratories again, accusing it of infringing a patent related to drug-coated heart stents in the latest legal fight to block sales of the top-selling device.
Wyeth and J&J claim Abbott's Xience stent, which props open heart arteries after they've been cleared of fat, is using, without permission, an invention covered by a patent issued yesterday for a way to maintain drug coatings on the devices. The drugs help prevent the development of scar tissue that would cause new clogging.
The complaint, filed yesterday in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, is the seventh lawsuit filed by J&J against Abbott over the Xience, which entered the market more than a year ago. Also named in the latest suit is Boston Scientific Corp., which sells Xience under the name Promus. Together, the two devices account for half of the U.S. stent market, Abbott said July 15.
"The Xience V stent competes directly with Cordis's Cypher stent, reducing Cordis's market share and causing irreparable harm to Cordis," the companies said in the complaint. "Abbott's infringement is causing harm to Wyeth as well."
Wyeth and J&J are seeking cash and a court order that would prevent further use of the invention by Abbott and Natick, Massachusetts-based Boston Scientific.
New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J pioneered the stent market in the U.S. and is projected to have less than 12 percent of the market this year by Rick Wise, an analyst at Leerink Swann & Co. in New York who follows the industry. Wyeth, based in Madison, New Jersey, makes Rapamune, a drug for preventing organ rejection that's used on the Cypher stent.
"Abbott believes the patent is invalid and its product does not infringe," said Scott Stoffel, a spokesman for the Libertyville Township-based company. "We will vigorously defend against these allegations."
The case is Wyeth v. Abbott Laboratories, 09cv4850, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey (Newark).