Medtronic and Edwards Lifesciences Resolve Patent Disputes

May 21st, 2014

Medtronic and Edwards Lifesciences Resolve Patent Disputes

Larry Husten, PHD

After years of protracted and often bitter litigation in the U.S. and abroad, Edwards Lifesciences and Medtronic today announced a broad resolution to all their patent disputes over transcatheter heart valves.

Medtronic will pay more than a billion dollars over the course of the agreement, which lasts until April 2022. Edwards will first receive a one-time payment of $750 million, followed by ongoing royalty payments until April 2022 based on a percentage of Medtronic’s CoreValve sales. These payments will range from $40 to $60 million each year of the agreement. The two companies also agreed that they would not sue each other over patents for transcatheter heart valves for the next 8 years.

Medtronic released the following statement from John Liddicoat, president of the company’s Structural Heart business: “This agreement brings to an end years of disputes between our companies related to TAVI patents, and allows both companies to make their respective therapies available to physicians and patients around the world. With this resolution, we are pleased that Medtronic will be able to continue to provide the CoreValve System, as well as other products, to patients who need them in the U.S. and abroad without the overhang of any potential injunction or additional damages.”

Edwards released the following statement from its chairman and CEO, Michael A. Mussallem: “We are pleased to reach an agreement that preserves physician choice while also recognizing Edwards’ leadership in pioneering the transcatheter heart valves that are chosen most often by physicians worldwide. This agreement allows us to move forward, fully dedicating our time and resources to helping patients.”

The agreement comes a little more than a month after Edwards achieved a sweeping victory in the courts over Medtronic which could have severely limited the availability of CoreValve in the US. Although the implementation of the injunction was postponed on appeal, the decision appears to have prompted the two companies to enter into serious negotiations.

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CardioExchange, an NEJM practice community for medical professionals dedicated to improving cardiac patient care, was active from 2009 to 2015. CardioExchange fostered discussion between clinicians from across the globe.

May 21st, 2014