Medtronic Inc. filed a lawsuit against Axonics Modulation Technologies Inc. alleging infringement of patents related to Medtronic’s minimally invasive sacral neuromodulation lead placement procedure and implant recharging technologies. The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, seeking injunctive relief and damages for infringement.
 
“Medtronic is the leader in minimally-invasive technology innovations in the field of sacral neuromodulation, making meaningful treatment options for people affected by bladder and bowel dysfunction,” said Brooke Story, vice president and general manager of the Pelvic Health and Gastric Therapies business, which is part of the Restorative Therapies Group at Medtronic. “Our many years of research and development in sacral neuromodulation, in partnership with physicians, has enabled us to create technology to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of patients. We’ve developed various aspects of sacral neuromodulation and related technologies for decades, including percutaneous implantable delivery techniques, recharging technologies, as well as microstimulators. Our intellectual property is a critical component in making such advancements possible.”
 
The complaint can be found here.
 
“Medtronic welcomes competitors and we believe competition drives innovation and broader market awareness, which is good for the industry and for patients,” said Story. “However, Medtronic is also committed to protecting our proprietary technology and intellectual property, which drives our ability to continue to innovate.”

Axonics issued a response to Medtronic's patent action.

Axonics has invested substantial time and resources in understanding the competitive landscape over the years since its inception in October 2013 and has been careful to respect the intellectual property rights of others in the design of its products, including the rights of Medtronic. Axonics is prepared to act quickly and defend itself aggressively and has already begun working with legal counsel. Beyond this, the need to protect the confidentiality of attorney communications limits what the Company can say about the specific allegations at this time.
 
“Axonics believes that this lawsuit is the kind of response that is all too predictable from Medtronic signaling that it is lacking the wherewithal to compete fairly. It is ironic that the largest medical device company in the world, with over a 20-year long monopoly in the SNM market, failed to introduce any meaningful innovation for the sake of patients or their physician customers. Instead, they have chosen to employ legal tactics to engage in clear anticompetitive behavior and yet another attempt to change the dialogue with physicians and U.S. institutional investors,” said Axonics CEO Raymond W. Cohen.
 
Cohen continued, “We believe in competition. Our team is neither naive, nor inexperienced and we refuse to be intimidated. We have developed our own considerable IP estate relating to our technology platform. It should be obvious, to even the most casual observer, that this is an attempt to use legal tactics to slow down competition, and deny patients and physicians the innovative new technology that they desire. The bottom line is that a large number of Medtronic’s customers want to work with Axonics and offer their patients our long-lived, fuss free, full-body MRI-capable SNM system, and we will continue to work vigorously to accomplish our objective of becoming the market leader in SNM.”