US Court to pharma giant Guardant Health: You willfully infringed patents for cancer-testing; asked to pay $245 million to University of Washington

A federal judge has finalized a judgment ordering pharma giant Guardant Health to pay more than $245 million to Seattle-based biotech startup TwinStrand Biosciences and the University of Washington for willfully infringing on patented DNA sequencing technology. The final order, entered in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, formalizes an initial November 2023 jury verdict against Guardant. In addition to the upfront payout, the ruling guarantees TwinStrand and the university an ongoing 6% royalty on covered Guardant products through the expiration of the patents in March 2033.