Dive Brief:
- Medtronic called off its plans to buy EOFlow, a company making an insulin patch-pump that is embroiled in a patent dispute with Insulet, Medtronic said in a Wednesday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
- In May, Medtronic agreed to buy EOFlow for about $738 million. Insulet has since sued EOFlow for patent infringement and won a preliminary injunction in October that would prevent the company from selling its device.
- Medtronic said in the filing that it was canceling the deal “based on multiple breaches” of the companies’ agreements, though it did not specify what those breaches were. It doesn’t believe any termination fee is payable under the agreements.
Dive Insight:
Medtronic had hoped to buy South Korea-based EOFlow to acquire an insulin patch-pump option. Currently, that market is dominated by Insulet, which reported $1.16 billion in total Omnipod sales for the first three quarters of 2023, compared with $1.25 billion all of last year.
Insulet sued EOFlow in August, claiming that its product was “practically identical” to Omnipod, and was granted a preliminary injunction by a U.S. district court judge in October.
BTIG analyst Marie Thibault wrote that it was not clear if the termination of the agreement was related to EOFlow’s legal battles, adding that the preliminary injunction was “widely anticipated” since Insulet had won previous patent lawsuits in Germany and France.
“We think this update solidifies Insulet’s monopolistic position in the insulin patch pump space and highlights the strength of its patent portfolio,” Thibault wrote.
Medtronic said that it still plans to advance its pipeline of insulin pumps, including a differentiated patch pump.