U.S. court orders Guardant to pay $245 million in DNA sequencing patent dispute

A U.S. court has ordered Guardant Health to pay more than $245.2 million to TwinStrand Biosciences and the University of Washington after finding that the company infringed patents covering DNA sequencing technology, TwinStrand said on Monday.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware entered final judgment on August 21, upholding a 2023 jury verdict that found Guardant had willfully infringed two patents related to TwinStrand's DNA sequencing technology.

"We strongly disagree with this decision and will promptly be appealing for its overturn," said John Saia, Guardant's Chief Legal Officer. "We have full faith in the strengths and merits of Guardant’s intellectual property and R&D and are confident we will prevail on appeal."

The court ordered Guardant to pay a 6% royalty on U.S. sales of 11 products and services found to infringe the patents until they expire in March 2033.

The judgment includes $83.4 million in original damages, $19.5 million in supplemental damages, $119.4 million in accrued royalties, and $22.9 million in pre- and post-judgment interest.

TwinStrand said the products and services covered by the ruling accounted for about 90% of Guardant's revenue during the infringement period. The products covered by the ruling include Guardant360 CDx, Guardant Reveal, the Shield cancer test and several other cancer testing and genomics services sold by Guardant.

Guardant had sought to overturn the verdict or obtain a new trial, but the court rejected those efforts, TwinStrand said. The judgment also upheld the validity of the patent claims at issue, TwinStrand said.