This article was updated to include a statement made by Natera.
NEW YORK – The US District Court for the District of Delaware on Friday issued an injunction prohibiting Natera and CareDx from making claims that had been determined to constitute false advertising.
The injunction covers nine claims made by Natera that a jury determined to be unsupported by a scientific paper demonstrating the performance of the Prospera kidney test and two claims made by CareDx related to a separate study.
The court ordered that those statements, featuring claims such as Prospera being more sensitive and specific than other current tools, having "unparalleled precision," demonstrating stronger test performance with "unique clinical capabilities" compared to CareDx's AlloSure Kidney test, and others to similar effect, should be permanently removed from public view and that the San Carlos, California-based company should "take all reasonable actions" to request their removal from third party publications.
In a statement, Natera said that "the advertisements at issue in this case have been obsolete for several years, and today’s order has no impact on Natera’s current advertising. Most importantly, the jury’s verdict never called into question the performance of the Prospera test or peer-reviewed data."
Similarly, the court enjoined CareDx from making what it had determined to be two false claims regarding the company's involvement with and funding for a study that at the time was in preprint, comparing its AlloSure Kidney test to Prospera, and that the company should take all necessary actions to remove those claims from public view.
Although the jury that had presided over the false advertising lawsuit originally awarded CareDx a total of $44.9 million in compensatory and punitive damages, a Delaware federal judge later reversed that particular verdict after determining the company failed to link false statements to consumer reliance on the related advertising.
In a statement, CareDx noted that it plans to appeal the decision to void the monetary damages awarded by the jury.
Both parties have filed notices of appeal with respect to the current decision.