10x, Harvard must face antitrust claims in gene-analysis patent cases (updated)

10x Genomics

11/07/2023 20:54

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      10x and Harvard sued Vizgen and NanoString for patent
infringement last year
    

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      Companies allowed to counter with monopoly
    

  
 (Adds comment from Vizgen in paragraph 5)
    By Blake Brittain
       July 11 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Delaware said on
Monday that 10x Genomics  TXG.O  and Harvard University must
face antitrust counterclaims over their licensing practices in
two gene-analysis patent lawsuits.
    U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly allowed 10x rivals
Vizgen and NanoString  NSTG.O  to press allegations that 10x and
Harvard broke promises that their technology would be subject to
open licenses based on the terms of the school's research
funding agreement with the National Institutes of Health.
    Kennelly on Monday rejected 10x and Harvard's motion to
dismiss Vizgen's claims and allowed NanoString to add related
allegations in 10x's separate lawsuit against it.
    NanoString CEO Brad Gray said in a statement on Tuesday that
the decision was a "significant development" that "provides
NanoString with another avenue for success in the case."
    Vizgen said in a statement on Tuesday that it was pleased
with the ruling and would continue to "aggressively defend" its
technology.
    Representatives for Harvard did not immediately respond to a
request for comment on Tuesday.
    Kennelly also granted 10x and Harvard's motion to dismiss
Vizgen and NanoString's claims that they broke a contract with
the NIH, finding the companies were not beneficiaries of the
contract entitled to bring the claims.
    10x's chief legal officer Eric Whitaker said in a statement
that the company would "move to dismiss NanoString's other
claims at the appropriate time." 
    10x's Xenium In Situ gene-analysis platform is based on
technology that 10x received from acquiring ReadCoor, a company
founded by Harvard professor George Church, in 2020. Church and
Harvard received $19 million from NIH in 2010 to research the
technology, and Harvard agreed in 2016 to license related
patents exclusively to ReadCoor.
    10x and Harvard jointly filed patent infringement lawsuits
against NanoString and Vizgen last year, in two of several
patent disputes over genomics technology. They accused the
companies' competing platforms of infringing patents related to
Xenium In Situ.
    NanoString and Vizgen, 10x's only competitors in the market
for "single-cell spatial transcriptomics" (SST) platforms,
accused 10x and Harvard of breaking an agreement with NIH to
offer "open and non-exclusive licensing" for innovations it 
funded. They said Harvard and 10x initially promised them
non-exclusive licenses before reneging and suing for
infringement.
    The companies said that if the patent cases succeed, 10x and
Harvard will monopolize the SST market and force artificially
high prices and licensing fees.
    
    The cases are 10x Genomics Inc v. NanoString Technologies
Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No.
1:22-cv-00261 and 10x Genomics Inc v. Vizgen Inc, U.S. District
Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:22-cv-00595.
    For 10x: Matthew Powers of Tensegrity Law Group
    For Harvard: Geoffrey Raux of Foley & Lardner
    For NanoString: Ed Reines of Weil Gotshal & Manges
    For Vizgen: David Bilsker of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart &
Sullivan
    
    Read more:
    NanoString sues 10x Genomics, escalating gene-analysis
patent fight

 (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)