Guardant Health sues rival Natera over cancer-testing trade secrets (updated)

Guardant Health

21/02/2025 23:17

(Adds comment from Guardant in paragraph 4)
    By Blake Brittain
       Feb 21 - Medical diagnostics company Guardant Health
 GH.O  has sued rival Natera  NTRA.O  in California federal
court for allegedly stealing trade secrets related to
cancer-detection blood tests. 
    Guardant said in a lawsuit filed Thursday that scientists
poached by Natera transferred thousands of confidential files to
the company to develop competing tests.
    A Natera spokesperson said on Friday that the complaint was
"riddled with baseless allegations" and that the company would
defend itself against the claims.
    A spokesperson for Guardant said the company would continue
to guard its intellectual property related to serving cancer
patients.
    The case is one of several contentious legal disputes among
competitors in the genomics industry, which involves the science
of the human genome. The global genomics market was worth nearly
$34 billion in 2023 and could grow to $157 billion by 2033,
according to a report from biopharmaceutical news outlet
BioSpace. 
    Guardant won a $292.5 million false advertising verdict
against Natera in November over allegations that it made
misleading claims comparing the companies' colorectal cancer
blood tests. 
    Guardant's new lawsuit said its Shield was the first
FDA-approved early cancer blood test. According to the
complaint, Natera began targeting Guardant employees
"aggressively" to "jumpstart its lagging position in the early
cancer test industry."
    Guardant said that two of its scientists, Alan Selewa and
Catalin Barbacioru, left the company for Natera earlier this
year. The complaint alleged both scientists transferred secret
files about the company's blood tests to external hard drives
before leaving to share them with Natera.
    Selewa and Barbacioru could not immediately be reached for
comment on the allegations. 
    Guardant asked the court for an order blocking the
scientists from sharing its secrets and an unspecified amount of
monetary damages.
    The case is Guardant Health Inc v. Natera Inc, U.S. District
Court for the Northern District of California, No.
3:25-cv-01837.
    For Guardant: Jennifer Keller and Chase Scolnick of Keller
Anderle Scolnick
    For Natera and the scientists: attorney information not yet
available