Illumina, Guardant Health agree to dismiss litigation and share specimen samples

After throwing accusations of retaliation and stealing trade secrets in court, Illumina and diagnostics company Guardant Health have come to a three-year agreement that includes a request to jointly dismiss the litigation with prejudice and brings the two companies together again to share specimen samples for cancer research, Guardant said in a statement Tuesday.

The agreement includes the dismissal of allegations of anything to do with intellectual property, which is how the lawsuit began when Illumina filed a complaint against Helmy Eltoukhy and AmirAli Talasaz, two ex-staffers who founded Guardant. In the 2022 lawsuit, Illumina alleged that the pair stole company trade secrets and used Illumina equipment, computers and email to launch Guardant.

Guardant and Illumina have also agreed to a long-term purchase and supply commitment.

Chris Freeman

“This agreement supports getting our transformative technologies to even more patients globally, while strengthening our long-standing and valued partnership with Illumina,” Guardant chief commercial officer Chris Freeman said in a statement.

When Illumina first filed the lawsuit last year in the Delaware District Court, Guardant hit back with its own allegations, claiming that the former employer of the Guardant founders was using the courts as retaliation for raising concerns about Illumina’s acquisition of Grail, another provider of blood-based cancer tests, and an attempt to suppress competition. Illumina denied retaliation allegations and said it was just trying to protect intellectual property rights.

Both the Federal Trade Commission and the European Commission raised concerns about the 2021 deal. While Illumina and Grail don’t compete, the FTC worries Illumina will use its dominance in DNA sequencing to deter other blood testing firms.

The FTC told Illumina earlier this year to divest Grail, a decision Illumina is fighting. The EU said in July that Illumina must also pay a €432 million ($476 million) fine for buying the cancer-testing firm Grail without regulatory approval.

diagnostics