Why Is Life Science Company NanoString Stock Trading Lower Today?

NanoString Technologies Inc NSTG shares are trading lower after a jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware reached a unanimous verdict favoring 10x Genomics Inc TXG in the patent infringement suit 10x filed against NanoString's GeoMx products.

In awarding over $31 million in damages, the jury found that NanoString's GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler and associated instruments, reagents, and services for RNA and protein detection willfully infringe all seven asserted patents owned by Prognosys and exclusively licensed to 10x Genomics.

The jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware set the award based on the sales of the infringing GeoMx products from May 6, 2021, through October 13, 2023.

10x also plans to seek royalties on GeoMx product sales after October 13, 2023, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, treble damages, and attorney's fees, and a permanent injunction barring the making, using, selling, and offering for sale the GeoMx products in the U.S.

"In the last six months, three separate courts have found that both NanoString's CosMx and GeoMx products infringe nine separate 10x patents," said 10x chief legal officer Eric Whitaker.

"At some point, NanoString must drop the charade that it is 'confident' it does not infringe the 10x patents and the patents are invalid."

While NanoString commented, "This verdict does not prevent NanoString from continuing to sell GeoMx products anywhere in the world. We believe that we will defeat any request by 10x Genomics for a potential future injunction and that we will continue to sell our GeoMx products worldwide without interruption."

NanoString also withdrew its FY23 and fourth quarter financial guidance, pending a review of the impact of this litigation outcome on its business.

Price Action: TXG shares are up 3.84% at $43.79, and NSTG stock is down 48.2% at $0.6631 on the last check Monday.