Illumina sues Genoma for infringement of NIPT patents
Illumina (ILMN (NASDAQ)) yesterday announced that it, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Verinata Health, Inc. (together “Illumina”), filed a patent infringement suit against Genoma SA in the Federal Patent Court in Switzerland.
esperiteGenoma is a fully owned subsidiary of Esperite and was created in May of 2014. Esperite itself is listed at Euronext Amsterdam and Paris (ESP (EURONEXT)). Illumina informs that it is seeking all available remedies, including damages and injunctive relief.
The patents asserted are EP 2 183 693 B1, EP 0 994 963 B2, EP 1 981 995 B1, and EP 2 514 842 B1, according to the press release. The patents are directed to using cell-free fetal DNA for non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT).
Genoma's Tranquility®
Genoma’s Tranquility®
The suit apparently accuses Genoma’s Tranquility® NIPT testing service, including its use of next-generation sequencing to analyze cell-free DNA from a sample of maternal blood. According to Illumina, Genoma’s testing facility in Switzerland also services samples collected from its other labs, including those located in Spain and Italy.
Illumina alleges that the Tranquility NIPT service uses the IONA® test sold by Premaitha Health plc. Illumina previously filed separate suits against Premaitha in the United Kingdom for sale of the IONA test.