A Medical Device Daily
Sontra Medical (Franklin, Massachusetts) reported that it has sent a notice to Dermisonics (West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania), saying it believes that Dermosonics' U-Strip ultrasonic transdermal delivery system for insulin and other drugs, when commercialized, will infringe one or more of Sontra's patents.
Sontra said it sent a letter on Monday to Dermisonics saying it believes that the U-Strip system currently infringes, or will infringe, the claims in Sontra's U.S. patent numbers 6,002,961, 6,190,315, and/or 6,491,657, noting that the potential penalties include a preliminary and permanent injunction, treble damages and attorneys' fees.
It said the letter “follows several earlier letters and communications by Sontra to Dermisonics over the past several months regarding this matter.”
Sontra said it has offered to negotiate a license agreement with Dermisonics, but has received no response to that offer. Thomas Davison, Sontra president and CEO, said, “We are very concerned that Dermisonics is or very soon will be infringing on our patents with its U-Strip system for the transdermal delivery of insulin and other drugs.”
He noted the unresponded-to offer to negotiate, adding, “Sontra takes this matter very seriously and will take all necessary actions to protect our intellectual property, and Dermisonics is on notice that the U-Strip system has serious patent infringement concerns.”
Sontra is focused on transdermal technologies, its SonoPrep ultrasound-mediated skin permeation technology being developed for continuous glucose monitoring and the transdermal delivery of large molecule drugs and vaccines.
In other legalities, Epix Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, Massachusetts), a developer of imaging agents used in MRI, reported that Judge Patti Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted the company's motion to dismiss a shareholder class action lawsuit against Epix, citing “failure to prosecute.”
Saris issued the dismissal without prejudice after a hearing on Tuesday, Epix said.