Occlutech: Fighting IP Wars in PFOs

For most small device companies, the threat of IP litigation sends chills through senior management. But for PFO start-up, its current battle with AGA Medical can only help, say company officials, by establishing the bona fides of its technology in a crowded space.

For most small device start-ups, the threat of patent litigation—particularly when the threat comes from a larger, well-established competitor—becomes a kind of death knell. Investors grow leery, management becomes distracted, and product development and commercialization time tables lengthen—sometimes interminably—as much because of the uncertainty of litigation as its possible outcomes. But executives at one company, Occlutech GmbH, one of the newer companies in the fast-moving space of Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO) and Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) closure devices, believe, quite to the contrary, that the threat of litigation could, in the end, provide just the boost the company needs.

Based in Jena, Germany, Occlutech's new PFO and ASD devices were developed by Hans Figulla, MD, head of cardiology at...

Read the full article – start your free trial today!

Join thousands of industry professionals who rely on In Vivo for daily insights

  • Start your 7-day free trial
  • Explore trusted news, analysis, and insights
  • Access comprehensive global coverage
  • Enjoy instant access – no credit card required
Start Free Trial

Already a subscriber?

More from Archive

Final Chance To Have Your Say: Take Our Reader Survey This Week

 
• By Eleanor Malone

Editor’s note: This is your final call to participate in the survey to better understand our subscribers’ content and delivery needs. The deadline is 20 September.

Early Development Deals: Ipsen's Strategy For Biomarker-Driven Success

 
• By Eliza Slawther

Mary Jane Hinrichs, Ipsen’s head of early development, talks to In Vivo about getting ahead of the competition by securing deals for candidates before they enter Phase I trials.   

Shape Our Content: Take The Reader Survey

 
• By Eleanor Malone

Editor’s note: We are conducting a survey to better understand our subscribers’ content and delivery needs. If there are any changes you’d like to see in the coverage topics, content format or the method in which you receive and access In Vivo, or if you love it how it is, now is the time to have your voice heard.

In Partnership with Cerba Research

Prioritizing Safety in CAR-T Therapy: Patient Monitoring with Cerba Research’s Testing Portfolio

The cell and gene therapy (CGT) clinical trial landscape in general and CAR-T cell clinical trials in particular are a special focus for the FDA, EMA, and other regulatory agencies. The whole industry is thus aware of the recent FDA safety investigation and requirements for labeling CAR therapy products.

More from In Vivo

Wide Of The Mark: ‘The Worst EU Medtech Predictions Have Not Come True’

 
• By Ashley Yeo

Jana Grieb, European regulatory and market access legal expert at McDermott Will & Emery, explains why the healthtech and pharma industries are warming to the new EU health commissioner as he faces calls to make the MDR more “user friendly.”

This Belgian Biotech’s Drug Cocktail Could Help Reverse Muscle Aging

 
• By Jo Shorthouse

While big pharma pours billions into creating new anti-aging molecules, a Belgian startup has taken a different path: combining existing safe drugs with AI precision. The early results suggest it might be onto something revolutionary.

Rising Leaders 2025: Doxie Jordan, From UNC Graduate To Global Market Strategist

 
• By Jo Shorthouse

Bristol Myers Squibb executive Doxie Jordan discusses his path to global commercial leadership and the principles guiding pharmaceutical market strategy