Surgeon in battle with Johnson & Johnson over backbone tech

A leading British surgeon is seeking payment from US medical giant Johnson & Johnson in a long-running dispute over the development of spinal implants.

John Webb, 82, who was also a doctor to the Royal Family, says he and a Swiss colleague were not paid by the beneficiaries of their trailblazing work.

The implants are now owned by Johnson & Johnson after a complex series of mergers over more than 20 years.

Webb and his colleague, who does not wish to be named, designed the cutting-edge devices, trademarked under the brand name Synthes, between 1987 and 2005 while they were working for the AO Foundation research organisation in Switzerland.

Trailblazing work: A leading British surgeon is seeking payment from US medical giant Johnson & Johnson in a long-running dispute over the development of spinal implants

Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss, 89, a co-owner of Chelsea Football Club, bought the rights to Synthes devices from AO for £900 million in 2006. Webb and his colleague claim they unknowingly signed over their intellectual property at that time.

Johnson & Johnson then bought Wyss’s firm in 2012 in a £16 billion deal. A Johnson & Johnson spokesman said: ‘We have thoroughly reviewed the materials submitted by the claimants. Our assessment confirms that there is no basis for their claim.’