BSX Ordered To Pay $431M In Patent Dispute
Device maker hopes to overturn verdict
By Mark Jewell
AP Business Writer
Natick-based Boston Scientific Corp. was ordered to pay $431 million in damages to a doctor who contends the medical device maker's drug-coated heart stents violate his 1997 patent.
The jury award in U.S. District Court in Marshall, Texas matches the amount of royalties that Dr. Bruce Saffran sought from sales of two Boston Scientific stents from 2004 through last September, said his attorney, Eric Albritton. The total reflects an 8 percent royalty on U.S. sales, and a 6 percent royalty on foreign sales, Albritton said.
The award covers Boston Scientific's top-selling product, the Taxus Express, sold in the U.S. since 2004 and now available globally, and the next-generation Taxus Liberte.
The company said it would seek to overturn the verdict in post-trial motions. It said it would appeal should those efforts fail.
Jurors reached the verdict after about two hours of deliberations Monday afternoon.
Boston Scientific last week recorded a $365 million charge against its fourth-quarter earnings to cover potential losses due to patent litigation involving stents. The company doesn't intend to take an additional charge.
"We do not intend to record a charge at this time because we believe we will prevail on appeal," spokesman Paul Donovan said.
Where The Heart Is
Heart stents are tiny, mesh-wire tubes that prop open coronary arteries after they have been surgically cleared of fatty plaque. Boston Scientific and a unit of Johnson & Johnson dominate the market for newer models coated with drugs released to prevent post-surgical scar tissue from creating new blockages.
Patent disputes are common in the field, typically involving small differences in the design of the stents and the type of drugs they're coated with.
Saffran, a radiologist from Princeton, N.J., won a patent in 1997 involving a medicated fabric coating to help repair bone fractures. The technology included a method to release medication within the body that Saffran argued works in much the same way as stents' drug coatings.
"Dr. Saffran is an independent inventor and his contributions to the advancement of medical technology needed to be recognized and rewarded," said Gary Hoffman, an attorney for Saffran with the firm Dickstein Shapiro.
Saffran sued Boston Scientific in December 2005. Saffran did not request an injunction, so current sales of the stents are unaffected by the verdict.
Albritton believes the verdict will stand.
"We think the verdict is well-supported in the law and in evidence," Albritton said.
A similar patent lawsuit that Saffran filed against Johnson & Johnson's Cordis Corp. unit, maker of the Cypher stent, is pending, Albritton said.
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