Natera wins first phase of patent trial over CareDx genetic tests

CareDx

26/01/2024 21:48

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      CareDx kidney-transplant rejection tests violate Natera
patent,
jury says
    

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      Jury will separately determine amount of monetary damages
    

  
    By Blake Brittain
       Jan 26 (Reuters) - Genetic-testing company Natera
 NTRA.O  convinced a jury in Delaware federal court on Friday
that medical diagnostics rival CareDx's  CDNA.O  AlloSure and
AlloSeq kidney-transplant tests infringe one of its patents, a
Natera spokesperson confirmed.
    The jury will now consider how much Brisbane,
California-based CareDx owes Natera in monetary damages. CareDx
said in a court brief on Friday that Natera was seeking more
than $149 million in lost profits.
    A CareDx spokesperson said the jury determined that the
company infringed one of two Natera patents at issue. The
spokesperson said the company would have further comment at the
end of the trial.
    The verdict was not immediately publicly available. CareDx's
stock price was down more than 17% on Friday afternoon following
the news.
    Austin, Texas-based Natera 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. The jury
on Friday determined after a week-long trial that CareDx's tests
infringed one of the patents.
    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:
    CareDx wins $45 mln verdict against Natera for false
advertising
    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)