A Medical Device Daily

Inverness Medical Innovations (IMI; Waltham, Massachusetts), a manufacturer of rapid diagnostic products for the over the counter (OTC) and professional markets, and Vedalab , a French manufacturer and supplier of rapid diagnostic tests for the OTC and professional markets, reported that they have settled their patent litigation, ongoing in France and Germany since 1997.

In addition, Vedalab has granted IMI exclusive U.S. distribution rights to its products, including future products developed by Vedalab.

IMI will also have worldwide non-exclusive distribution rights to Vedalab products in a number of other countries. Inverness has in turn granted Vedalab a royalty-bearing license under certain patents to manufacture its current products in its Alencon, France facility.

In connection with the transaction, Vedalab paid EUR 4 million ($5.1 million) and IMI purchased a substantial minority ownership position in Vedalab in exchange for about EUR 7.4 million ($9.5 million), in cash and other considerations.

“We are excited about resolving this litigation, and gaining Inverness as a key distributor for our products. We believe that partnership with Inverness will help us accelerate our growth,” said Raphael Donati, CEO and the majority shareholder of Vedalab.

“We see terrific potential in many of Vedalab’s tests, including their qualitative prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, which we expect to introduce into the U.S. professional market as well as into home markets,” said Ron Zwanziger, CEO of Inverness.

In other legalities: The law firm of Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardinereported that it has filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson (J&J; New Brunswick, New Jersey), manufacturers of the Ortho Evra birth control patch, on behalf of a Colorado woman who alleges that she suffered a pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis due to her use of the Ortho Evra birth control patch.

The woman charges that when she was using the Ortho Evra, J&J knew or should have known that the patch created increased risk of serious personal injury, including stroke, pulmonary embolism, blood clotting and even death.

The Ortho Evra birth control patch became commercially available in 2002 and has been prescribed to more than 4 million women since its launch. On Sept. 20, J&J admitted in its revised product labeling that women on the patch may be at greater risk of developing blood clots in the lungs and legs than women using birth control pills.