By Mike Scarcella
Life Sciences Company Element Biosciences sued Illuminina ILMN On Monday, in separate cases in federal courts in California and Delaware, claiming that the giant of the sequence of genes violated the antitrust law and violated its patents.
In a complaint in the Northern District Court of California, Element accused to illuminate the market for the so -called next -generation DNA sequencing used to determine the sequence of chemicals in DNA molecules. Is lawsuit In Delaware, he said that Illumina technology had violated the key patents held by Element.
The San Diego -based element also accused Illumina of increasing the prices of gene sequencing services, suppressing innovation and limiting the choice.
In a statement, Element said he filed the demands “because we believe that Illumina has been involved in anti -competitive and illegal long -standing practices to maintain market dominance, to the detriment of the element and the scientific community in general.”
The demands increase a dispute between the two companies. In May, Illumina accused the element of violation of patents in a lawsuit filed in a federal court in Delaware.
Illumina, also based in San Diego, in a statement on Monday denied the accusations and called them “without de facto merit or base.”
“Unfortunately, as we have argued through the legal process, Element seeks to use and benefit from Illumina’s innovations without compensating Illumina for its tremendous investment in research and development,” said Illumina.
Element said in its antitrust demand that its DNA sequencing technology can produce higher quality data and a lower cost than a comparable illumination sequencer.
According to the demand, Illumina in at least one instance tried to force a client to “explicit exclusivity through a combination of implicit discounts and threats.”
Demand seeks damage for alleged lost sales, a reduced market share and reduced profits.
The cases are element biosciences v. Illuminina, United States District Court, Northern District of California, No. 5: 25-CV-08026, and Element Biosciences v. Illumina, United States District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1: 25-CV-01175-A.
For the plaintiff: Kevin Johnson and David Bilsker of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan
For the defendant: there are no appearances yet