Ban Upheld on Cancer Test in Natera-NeoGenomics Patent Fight

The Federal Circuit affirmed a North Carolina district court’s December ruling blocking sales of a NeoGenomics Laboratories Inc. cell-free DNA cancer-detection test at the center of a patent infringement dispute.

The district court’s ruling didn’t overlook potential public harm because the tailored preliminary injunction exempts cancer patients, studies, and clinical trials already using NeoGenomics’ RaDaR tests, and patent owner Natera Inc. has the capacity to take on new customers for its comparable test while the ban is in, according to an opinion issued Friday by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Natera, which makes a rival test ...