Natera owes Ravgen $57 million in genetic-testing case, Texas jury says

Illumina

16/01/2024 22:45

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      Jury said Natera's Panorama prenatal tests infringe Ravgen
patent
    

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      Ravgen previously won $272 million verdict against Labcorp
    

  
    By Blake Brittain
       Jan 16 (Reuters) - Genetic-testing company Natera
 NTRA.O  must pay Maryland biotech company Ravgen $57 million in
damages for infringing one of Ravgen's patents, a jury in
Austin, Texas, said on Tuesday.
    The jury agreed with Ravgen that Austin-based Natera's
Panorama prenatal screening tests violate Ravgen's patent rights
in cell-free DNA testing technology, according to a Ravgen
spokesperson.
    Natera said in a statement that the verdict will have "no
impact on the company's ability to continue serving its
customers" and that the award was "significantly less than the
$410 million Ravgen was seeking."
    Ravgen attorney Kerri-Ann Limbeek told Reuters that the
company was pleased with the verdict and that the jury
recognized that its technology is "foundational" to non-invasive
prenatal testing.
    Ravgen has sued several diagnostics companies for patent
infringement. Its patents relate to diagnostic tests that
analyze free-floating DNA taken from a patient's bloodstream,
technology that the Columbia, Maryland-based company said it
pioneered.
    Ravgen in 2022 won a $272 million Texas verdict against
Labcorp  LH.N , which a judge increased by $100 million last
year. It later settled related lawsuits against Quest
Diagnostics  DGX.N  and Illumina  ILMN.O . 
    Related Ravgen lawsuits are still pending in Delaware
federal court against Biora Therapeutics  BIOR.O  and Roche's
 ROG.S  Ariosa Diagnostics.
    Ravgen sued Natera for patent infringement in 2020.
    A Natera filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission last year said that Panorama was the market leader in
non-invasive prenatal testing and made up the majority of the
company's revenue along with its carrier-screening test Horizon.
    Natera told the court that its tests work differently from
Ravgen's patented technology and argued that Ravgen's patent is
invalid.
    The case is Ravgen Inc v. Natera Inc, U.S. District Court
for the Western District of Texas, No. 1:20-cv-00692.
    For Ravgen: Kerri-Ann Limbeek, John Desmarais, Brian Matty
and Benjamin Luehrs of Desmarais
    For Natera: Michael Summersgill, Jordan Hirsch, Kevin
Prussia, Robert Gunther, Amanda Major and Mark Selwyn of Wilmer
Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr; and Stephen Hash and Samoneh
Schickel of McDermott Will & Emery
    
    Read more:
    Quest faces next Ravgen DNA testing patent trial after $272
mln Labcorp verdict
    Quest Diagnostics agrees to settlement of DNA-test patent
dispute
    Ravgen settles patent fight with Illumina over genetic
testing

 (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)