On March 17, 2022 Guardant Health, Inc. (Nasdaq: GH), a leading precision oncology company, reported the following statement regarding a lawsuit filed by Illumina that seeks to challenge Guardant Health’s ownership and authorship of a portion of its intellectual property and to suppress competition in the market (Press release, Guardant Health, MAR 17, 2022, View Source [SID1234610284]).

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Commenting on the lawsuit, John Saia, the company’s SVP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, said: "At Guardant Health, our mission for the last 10 years has been to develop groundbreaking blood tests that improve cancer care and save patients’ lives. Nearly a decade after these patents were filed, Illumina’s lawsuit frivolously challenges our ownership and authorship of our intellectual property, which is the backbone of our vital work. We believe Illumina is using the courts to retaliate against us for registering concerns about the antitrust implications of Illumina’s acquisition of Grail – another provider of blood-based cancer tests – and in an attempt to slow us down in the marketplace as we get ready to launch our blood test to screen for early signs of colorectal cancer. Despite these efforts, our long-term supply agreement with Illumina remains in force and our work for patients will not be interrupted. However, we cannot stand by and allow unfair practices in the marketplace or false claims to be made about our intellectual property, which we will vigorously defend. The stakes are too high for the cancer patients who rely on our important work."