St. Jude wins injunction in fight with ICD partner

St. Jude Medical ($STJ) scored a legal victory in its spat with AorTech, which makes the polymer insulation for Durata leads. AorTech has threatened to pull out of its agreement with St. Jude, but the devicemaker convinced a court to temporarily prevent the manufacturer from doing so.

It all started last month when AorTech announced it wanted out of the relationship, citing "material breaches" in the deal and giving St. Jude 30 days to rectify the issue before it terminated the agreement. In a regulatory filing, St. Jude says it filed a lawsuit shortly thereafter and, on Nov. 1, won a temporary injunction in federal court, preventing AorTech from backing out.

"The company intends to seek final resolution of this matter as quickly and expeditiously as possible and remains confident in the strength of its legal position," St. Jude wrote in the filing.

It would seem that St. Jude has quite a bit to lose if the affair goes sour, as Durata's Optim insulation is largely what separates it from the since-recalled Riata leads, which suffered from erosion that harmed patients and dealt a blow to St. Jude's business.

That said, the company believes it has enough polymer supply from AorTech to keep churning out leads, and St. Jude has "adopted other contingencies that will prevent any supply disruptions of Optim in the future," as a spokesperson told Mass Device last month.

- here's St. Jude's filing
- check out the Mass Device story