Ravgen settles patent fight with Illumina over genetic testing

By Blake Brittain

(Reuters) – Gene-sequencing giant Illumina Inc has settled a patent lawsuit brought by Maryland biotech company Ravgen Inc, which accused Illumina’s genetic tests of infringing its patents.

The companies told a Delaware federal court Friday that they settled the case. Ravgen attorney John Desmarais on Monday called it “a mutually satisfactory settlement between the two parties” but did not disclose terms of the deal, which are confidential.

San Diego-based Illumina declined to comment on Monday.

Ravgen has filed a series of lawsuits against companies including Illumina, Natera and Roche’s Ariosa Diagnostics over DNA-testing technology. It won a $272 million jury verdict against Labcorp in Texas last September and settled a lawsuit against Quest Diagnostics shortly before a trial was set to begin in October.

Ravgen alleged in its 2020 complaint that Illumina’s Verifi and VeriSeq tests for fetal chromosome abnormalities and TruSight test for cancer markers infringe its patents. Ravgen’s patents relate to less invasive diagnostic tests that analyze free-floating DNA from a patient’s bloodstream, technology the Columbia, Maryland-based company said it pioneered.

Illumina denied the allegations and argued the patents were invalid.

A jury trial was scheduled to begin next October.

The case is Ravgen Inc v. Illumina Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:20-cv-01644.

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)