Benzinga | Nov 9, 2021 11:51AM EST

Ocular Therapeutix Announces Success In Patent Appeal Brought By Mati Therapeutics

Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCUL), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the formulation, development, and commercialization of innovative therapies for diseases and conditions of the eye, today announced that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., invalidated a patent held by Mati Therapeutics, Inc. (Mati) relating to a drug delivery system containing dexamethasone. This decision affirms the judgment made in June 2020 by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office after an inter partes review that determined Ocular Therapeutix had proven that all 23 claims of U.S. Patent 9,849,082 B2 (the '082 patent), owned by Mati are invalid due to "obviousness". Mati had previously claimed that Ocular Therapeutix's first commercial drug product, DEXTENZA(r), and its hydrogel platform, had infringed the '082 patent.

According to Antony Mattessich, Chief Executive Officer of Ocular Therapeutix, "This court decision validates our strategy to rigorously defend and protect our innovative products, including DEXTENZA. We have long believed that Mati's patent was invalid. We are pleased that the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed by affirming the judgment of the PTAB."

Ocular has licenses to three U.S. patents, patents which have been issued in Australia, Canada, China and Japan, and pending applications in the European Union and India, that cover DEXTENZA, all of which are expected to expire in 2030. Ocular also has multiple pending patent applications with the potential to cover DEXTENZA that, if granted, would be expected to expire between 2036 and 2040.

Mati may seek further review of the recent judgment of the court. Mati also has additional patents that may relate to DEXTENZA or future products that Ocular may develop in the future. However, Ocular continues to believe that Mati's patents would be non-infringed or subject to one or more claims of invalidity.