by
Thomas Dworetzky, Contributing Reporter | April 13, 2017
Minerva Surgical is suing Hologic over its NovaSure menstrual bleeding ablation product.
Minerva has claimed in court documents that Hologic infringed on its patented technology,
according to Reuters.
The suit was filed in San Francisco this week with the aim of preventing sales of the product in the U.S.
Hologic's NovaSure Advanced system was launched in Australia, Canada and Europe in 2016, but just started being offered in the U.S. in early 2017.
At that time, Hologic stated that, “the NovaSure Advanced device has a smaller sheath size, requiring less cervical dilation than the 8 mm NovaSure device, which is the current standard of care.”
The smaller size means that a smaller dilation is needed and this, in turn, reduces patient discomfort.
The “updated device is also equipped with an acorn-like shaped cervical seal that creates an increased sealing surface within the cervical canal and provides 13 percent more 'working length' than the previous device,” added the company.
"I have relied on the NovaSure system for years and it has proven superior to other endometrial ablation modalities, offering a safe, effective and rapid treatment to heavy menstrual bleeding," Dr. Francis Gardner, consultant gynecologist at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, England, stated in the company release. "The introduction of the NovaSure Advance system is a significant advancement. In addition to providing a more comfortable experience for patients due to the smaller diameter, physicians, like myself, will be able to perform more procedures in office, while maintaining the same efficacy of the trusted NovaSure system."
Massachusetts-based Hologic makes roughly 8 percent of its $2.3 billion annual revenue from the product. According to the news agency, the company claims that NovaSure Advanced is “a next generation version of its device introduced in 2001.”
The company had no comment on the Minerva suit at this point, according to the wire service.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted premarket approval to the Minerva counterpart in July 2015, but that device has not hit the market to date.
California-based Minerva, founded in 2008, claimed a “post-treatment success rate of 91.8 percent compared with 77.7 percent for NovaSure Advanced,” Reuters stated.
Hologic made acquisition news in February, when it
acquired aesthetics company Cynosure for $1.65 billion.
