Endologix, Inc. (Nasdaq: ELGX), developer of minimally invasive treatments for aortic disorders, responded to the Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. lawsuit filed against Endologix in the United States District Court of Arizona. The Bard Peripheral lawsuit alleges that Endologix's proprietary high density ePTFE graft material, which is used for the Powerlink® System, infringes on Bard Peripheral's "Prosthetic Vascular Graft" patent (U.S. Patent No. 6,436,135). Endologix is confident of its belief that it is not infringing the cited patent and intends to vigorously defend its position.
John McDermott, President and Chief Executive Officer said, "We are well versed on the patent cited in the lawsuit. Based on significant prior evaluations, testing and outside legal reviews, we are confident in our belief that we do not infringe the patent. Before developing and manufacturing our own in-house ePTFE graft material, we conducted a deep and thorough review of the patent landscape to insure that we would not infringe on any existing intellectual property. This included a specific, rigorous review of the Bard Peripheral patent named in the lawsuit, both internally and by outside legal counsel. Based upon those reviews, we believe the alleged infringement claims are without merit and intend to vigorously defend our position."
Endologix received FDA approval to manufacture its ePTFE graft material in April 2007 and beginning in 2008, Endologix has manufactured all of its own graft material. This coincided with the expiration of Endologix's supply agreement with Bard Peripheral for the supply of ePTFE in December 2007.
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