QT Vascular says US appeals court overturns US$20m payment to AngioScore

QT Vascular said on Monday the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has reversed a district court ruling for the Singapore-listed company to pay more than US$20 million in damages to AngioScore Inc.

At issue is the damage award ruling by a federal district court in San Francisco that Eitan Konstantino, the former co-founder and board member of AngioScore, had breached his fiduciary duty to AngioScore by failing to offer it the "Chocolate" balloon angioplasty catheter while serving on the company's board. He instead assigned the rights to the product, including royalties, to QT Vascular as well as TriReme and Quattro, the two other companies that he founded.

"I am delighted that we won this appeal as it validates the stand taken by the group since the start of this litigation with AngioScore" Dr Konstantino, who is also the chief executive officer of QT Vascular, said in a release.

On July 21, 2016, a unanimous three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the the Federal Circuit reversed the breach of fiduciary duty ruling on procedural grounds, finding that the district court for the Northern District of California lacked jurisdiction to hear that claim.

In the trial court ruling, the court found Dr Konstantino breached his fiduciary duties to AngioScore, that TriReme and Quattro aided and abetted the breach, that QT Vascular was liable for the acts of TriReme and Quattro, and awarded AngioScore in excess of US$20 million in damages.

In its decision, the Federal Circuit also affirmed the trial court's ruling that the defendants are not entitled to lawyers' fees in the patent infringement case.

AngioScore was acquired in June 2014 by Spectranetics, a maker of medical devices used in minimally invasive procedures within the cardiovascular system.