A Dallas-based biotech company and The University of Texas (UT) have won a patent infringement case against medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific.
After a half-decade legal battle, a federal jury in Delaware determined that Boston Scientific had violated a medical patent held by UT and licensed to TissueGen Inc., a small Dallas-based biotech company specializing in the development of therapeutic drug-delivery technologies.
The patent at the heart of the infringement case involved specialized coronary stent technology designed to prevent blood clotting in patients using a slow-release medical coating. The patent was first awarded to The University of Texas in 2003 and was based on research that Dr. Kevin Nelson and others performed in the 1990s at UT Arlington.
In 2015, Boston Scientific received FDA approval for an identical product. Despite receiving FDA approval, the jury found that Boston Scientific had violated UT’s medical patent after the Delaware-based medical manufacturer began selling its Synergy-branded coronary stents in 2021.
Boston Scientific was ordered to pay TissueGen approximately $42 million in lost royalties relating to the unlawful use of its Synergy-branded stents, per The Dallas Morning News.
TissueGen expressed dissatisfaction over the amount the company was awarded for the patent violation relative to how much Boston Scientific had profited, with CEO Jonathan Gibson calling the award a “tiny sliver of the profits,” according to The Dallas Morning News.
Gibson noted that Boston Scientific could appeal and try to “exhaust TissueGen,” per The Dallas Morning News.
“TissueGen does not control what Boston Scientific does with its resources, which are endless by comparison to TissueGen,” he said, according to The Dallas Morning News. “If Boston Scientific respects the court who provided both sides a fair opportunity to present their cases and the citizens who took time from their lives to render a judgment, the recovery will be poured back into research at UT System and TissueGen to save lives and relieve suffering.”
Boston Scientific, however, did not see eye to eye with TissueGen.
Spokesperson Kate Haranis said, “Boston Scientific respectfully disagrees with the verdict,” she said, per The Dallas Morning News, noting that the company plans to appeal the verdict.