Genetic diagnostics company NeoGenomics Laboratories has secured a win at a US court in a patent litigation dispute with rival Natera over their competing cancer test kits.
Judge Catherine C Eagles at the US District Court for the District of North Carolina granted summary judgment to NeoGenomics on 28 August, ruling that two Natera patents, known as ’454 and ’596, which are directed at preparing samples for detecting DNA mutations, are invalid for claiming ineligible subject matter.
Natera had alleged that NeoGenomics’ RaDaR minimal residual disease (MRD) test, which detects and monitors MRD and cancer recurrence in patients with solid tumours, infringed its patents.
The decision leaves NeoGenomics, which is represented by Morrison Foerster, free to sell the test, which competes with Natera’s own MRD product, Signatera.
Tony Zook, CEO of NeoGenomics, said: “We are pleased with the court’s decision to invalidate Natera’s asserted patents. We will continue to vigorously protect and defend our intellectual property to fuel the next wave of innovation and serve our patients.”
In a statement, Natera said it was “evaluating its options, including an appeal and further enforcement with other patents”.
Natera, represented by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, had originally sued NeoGenomics in 2023 over an earlier version of the RaDaR test, when it relied on the ’454 patent and another patent, ’035, to persuade the court to issue a permanent injunction prohibiting NeoGenomics from selling the test.
Natera pointed out that the latest ruling had no impact on the enforceability of the ’035 patent, which helped remove the first version of NeoGenomics’ test off the market.
The MoFo team representing NeoGenomics included partners Daralyn J. Durie, Aaron Fountain, Matthew R. Stephens and Kira A. Davis, senior counsel Matthew I. Kreeger, associates Annie A. Lee, Hui Zhao, Charles C. Provine, Jack W. Haisman, Eric Nikolaides and Nina N. Reed, and patent agent Kelsey J. Roberts Kingsman.
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