Glaukos Corporation and Ivantis, Inc. have agreed to terminate the patent infringement lawsuit Glaukos initiated on 14 April, 2018 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Southern Division, concerning Ivantis’ Hydrus Microstent.
Under the agreement, Ivantis will pay Glaukos US$60 million, $30 million of which will be paid by 31 December, 2021, and the other $30 million to be paid by 31 December, 2022. Ivantis will also pay Glaukos a 10% ongoing royalty through 26 April, 2025, based on Ivantis’ Hydrus Microstent U.S. sales and any international sales supplied out of the U.S. Further, the parties have agreed to mutual licenses and covenants not to sue on the Hydrus and iStent technologies. In accordance with the settlement, the parties will submit a joint request to stay the pending litigation, which had been scheduled for trial beginning on 28 September, 2021, and dismiss it upon receipt of the upfront payment.
Ivantis will pay Glaukos US$60 million… Ivantis will also pay Glaukos a 10% ongoing royalty through 26 April, 2025
“Since our founding in 1998, Glaukos has invested considerable time and resources to develop novel technologies that have pioneered an entirely new treatment category for glaucoma surgeons and their patients,” said Thomas Burns, Glaukos president and chief executive o????cer. “We remain confident in the strength of our robust intellectual property portfolio and believe this settlement allows us to focus our full attention and resources on executing our long-term growth strategy by bringing transformative new technologies to the market for the benefit of patients worldwide.”
In a statement from Ivantis, Dave Van Meter, the company’s president and CEO said, “Although we have always believed our pioneering technology does not infringe any valid claim of any of Glaukos’ patents, we are pleased to put this distraction behind us. Given the upward trajectory of our business and the rapidly increasing adoption of Hydrus in the market, we are fortunate to be in a position to be able to readily absorb this settlement as we continue bringing our best-in-class MIGS technology to our customers and their patients”.
Glaukos pioneered micro-invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS), to revolutionise the traditional glaucoma treatment and management paradigm. The company launched the iStent, its first MIGS device, in the United States in 2012, its next-generation iStent inject device in the United States in 2018, and most recently, the iStent inject W device in 2020.
Ivantis’s Hydrus Microstent, which is roughly the size of an eyelash, was approved by the FDA in August 2018 for use in conjunction with cataract surgery for the reduction of intraocular pressure (IOP) in adult patients with mild to moderate primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG).
