A Medical Device Daily

Coming as no great surprise is news that Cordis (Miami Lakes, Florida) last week filed suit against AbbottLaboratories (Abbott Park, Illinois) in an attempt to block the Xience from reaching the market. The lawsuit is the fourth filed against Abbott this year by Cordis.

The suit claims that the Xience infringes a patent for a way of using rapamycin or related medicines on the devices to prevent restenosis.

The Cypher is coated with rapamycin; Xience is coated with everolimus; and Cordis claims everolimus is related to rapamycin.

“Upon its launch in the United States, the Xience V stent will compete directly with Cordis’ Cypher stent, reducing Cordis’ market share, impairing customer goodwill and causing irreparable harm to Cordis,” according to a statement issued by that company’s parent, Johnson & Johnson (New Brunswick, New Jersey).

Cordis filed the suit in federal court in Trenton, New Jersey, on the same day that it obtained the patent for using drugs to coat stents.

An Abbott spokesperson termed the lawsuit without merit.