CareDx owes Natera $96 mln in genetic-testing patent case, US jury says

CareDx

29/01/2024 15:09

* 
      Jury awards Natera more than $83 mln in lost profits and
$12 mln
in royalties
    

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      Natera accused CareDx's rival kidney-transplant tests of
infringing patents
    

  
    By Blake Brittain
       Jan 29 (Reuters) - A jury in Delaware federal court has
awarded genetic-testing company Natera  NTRA.O  more than $96.3
million in damages after finding that rival CareDx's  CDNA.O 
AlloSure and AlloSeq kidney-transplant tests infringe a Natera
patent, according to a verdict made public on Monday.
    The jury determined that Natera was entitled to more than
$83.6 million in lost profits and $12.6 million in royalties
from CareDx. The Friday verdict came after the same jury
concluded earlier in the day that CareDx had infringed one of
Natera's two patents at issue in the case.
    CareDx said in a court filing that Natera had sought more
than $149 million in lost-profit damages.
    Austin, Texas-based Natera said in a statement on Monday
that it was pleased with the verdict. CareDx said earlier that
it plans to appeal and that the verdict would not affect the
availability of the company's tests.
    Natera had accused CareDx of infringing patents related to
the use of cell-free DNA to assess the risk that a person's body
will reject a kidney transplant. 
    Brisbane, California-based CareDx won a $45 million jury
award against Natera for false advertising in a related case in
2022. A Delaware judge threw out the award last year, though he
affirmed that Natera had falsely advertised that its competing
Prospera tests were more effective than AlloSure.
    The U.S. Supreme Court last year rejected CareDx's bid to
revive patents that it had accused Natera of infringing in a
separate case.
    
    The case is Natera Inc v. CareDx Inc, U.S. District Court
for the District of Delaware, No. 1:20-cv-00038.
    For Natera: Kevin Johnson, Drew Holmes and Sandra Haberny of
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
    For CareDx: Ed Reines, Derek Walter and Sutton Ansley of
Weil Gotshal & Manges
    
    Read more:
    Natera wins first phase of patent trial over CareDx genetic
tests
    US judge rejects $45 mln award to CareDx in Natera false ads
case
    US Supreme Court rebuffs CareDx patent lawsuit over
organ-rejection tests

 (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)
 ((blake.brittain@tr.com; +1 (202) 938-5713;))