RULING WOULD SHUT ABBOTT'S XIENCE V STENT OUT OF FRENCH MARKET

EvYsio Medical Devices has won an injunction against affiliates of Abbott Laboratories barring the importation, offering for sale or sale of Abbott's Xience V drug-eluting stent in France, evYsio announced.

Abbott launched the Xience V internationally in October 2006. But the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris ruled Dec. 22, 2006, that the Xience V infringes on one of evYsio's European patents, and it gave evYsio the right to enjoin the importation, offering for sale or sale of the Xience V stent in France, evYsio said Jan. 4.

"We disagree with the court's ruling and are evaluating our legal options, including the possibility of filing an appeal," Abbott spokesman Jonathon Hamilton said.

EvYsio and Medtronic have also initiated infringement lawsuits in other countries, alleging that Abbott's Multi-Link Vision and Xience V coronary stents "infringe patents under exclusive worldwide license to Medtronic from evYsio, including in the U.S., Ireland, the UK and Germany," evYsio said.

"Medtronic may be initiating alleged infringement litigation against Abbott in order to gain a possible bargaining chip to acquire access to Abbott's rapid exchange delivery system, which we continue to view as unlikely," Merrill Lynch Research analyst Katherine Owen said in a Jan. 4 research note.