QLT goes on the offensive in Patent Litigation...
QLT files supplemental claims against Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
in ongoing patent litigation in response to issuance of new patent
VANCOUVER, May 2, 2001 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- QLT Inc. (NASDAQ:QLTI;
TSE:QLT) reported today that it has filed a supplemental counterclaim against
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary ("MEEI") as part of an ongoing patent
dispute pending in the United States District Court for the District of
Massachusetts. QLT's action is in response to the issuance of United States
Patent No. 6,225,303 (the "'303 patent") yesterday to MEEI for a method of
treating unwanted choroidal neovasculature in a shortened treatment time using
QLT's proprietary compound Visudyne(TM) (verteporfin).
QLT alleges that the '303 patent is invalid and unenforceable because of
inequitable conduct by MEEI and its patent attorneys in obtaining the patent
from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Specifically, QLT asserts
that MEEI and its attorneys secretly filed the patent application naming MEEI
researchers as sole inventors, and wrongfully withheld from the Patent Office
material information indicating that researchers at Massachusetts General
Hospital ("MGH") and QLT were co-inventors of the patent. QLT further alleges
that in filing the patent application and claiming exclusive ownership of the
claimed treatment method, MEEI sought to pressure QLT into paying MEEI
exhorbitant royalties on sales of Visudyne.
The '303 patent is derived from the same patent family as U.S. Patent No.
5,798,349 (the "'349 patent") which names researchers from each of QLT, MGH, and
MEEI as inventors and is jointly owned by all three entities. In its
supplemental counterclaim, QLT seeks to correct inventorship of the '303 patent
to include the MGH and QLT researchers who contributed to conception of the
treatment method. QLT further requests a declaration of non-infringement of the
'303 patent, based upon its co-ownership rights and also based upon a
non-exclusive license provided to QLT under the terms and conditions of MEEI's
use of Visudyne in its pre-clinical studies.
"MEEI's patent strategy is part of a continuing campaign by MEEI to deny credit
to the researchers at MGH and QLT who conceived this important new method of
treating age-related macular degeneration," said Dr. Julia Levy, President and
CEO of QLT. "In fact, research on this method began at MGH, and only after MGH
reported encouraging results from their initial animal studies did MEEI
researchers join the collaboration."
In December 1998, QLT successfully concluded negotiations with MGH to
exclusively license MGH's co-ownership rights under the '349 patent in exchange
for a reasonable royalty on U.S. Visudyne sales. QLT offered to enter into a
license agreement with MEEI on the same terms as the MGH license, but MEEI
demanded royalties many times greater than MGH's. When QLT did not agree to
MEEI's demands, MEEI brought the pending litigation, which seeks, among other
things, the imposition of a court-ordered royalty.
Visudyne was discovered by researchers at QLT in the mid-1980s. It was
subsequently developed for various ocular conditions by QLT and Novartis
Ophthalmics, the eye health unit of Novartis AG. The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration approved Visudyne for patients with age related macular
degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in people over the age of 50,
on April 12, 2000.
Visudyne therapy is protected by a series of U.S. and foreign-issued patents
either owned by or under exclusive license to QLT, that cover the composition of
matter, formulations and manufacturing, and the method of use in treating AMD
and other conditions.
QLT is represented in the litigation by Mr. Donald R. Ware, of the law firm of
Foley, Hoag & Eliot LLP based in Boston, Massachusetts.
QLT Inc. is a world leader in photodynamic therapy, a field of medicine
utilizing light-activated drugs in the treatment of disease. QLT's innovative
science has led to the development and commercialization of breakthrough
treatments utilizing this technology for applications in ophthalmology and
oncology and is exploring the potential in immune disorders. For more
information, you are invited to visit QLT's web site at www.qltinc.com.
QLT Inc. will hold an analyst and institutional investor conference call to
discuss the litigation on Wednesday, May 2, at 8:30 a.m. EST (5:30 a.m. PST).
The call will be broadcast live via the Internet at www.qltinc.com. A replay of
the call will be available via the Internet and also via telephone at (416)
626-4100, access code 18769592. |
