A DNA technology invented in a University of Washington lab just generated a $245 million patent judgment for Seattle-based TwinStrand Biosciences, one of the startup ecosystem's clearest payoffs from UW's research commercialization pipeline and a case that could send quarterly royalty checks to Seattle through 2033.

U.S. District Court in Delaware entered the final judgment Friday, Aug. 21, ordering California-based Guardant Health to pay TwinStrand and UW more than $245.2 million for willfully infringing two patents covering Duplex Sequencing, a technology that detects ultra-rare genetic mutations conventional methods miss.

The breakdown, according to Reuters: $83.4 million in jury-awarded damages for infringement through June 2023, $19.5 million in supplemental damages, $119.4 million in accrued royalties at a 6% rate, and $22.9 million in interest.

The judgment also locks in a 6% royalty on U.S. sales of 11 Guardant products through March 15, 2033, payable quarterly. Those products accounted for roughly 90% of Guardant's revenue during the infringement period, applied against a $1.39 billion revenue base.

"Duplex Sequencing solved an accuracy problem the sequencing field had worked on for years, and this judgment affirms the jury's finding that Guardant Health built products on that invention without a license," Chad Waite, chair of TwinStrand's board, said in a company statement.

TwinStrand traces directly to UW's labs. Jesse Salk, a molecular biologist, clinical oncologist and grandson of polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk, invented the underlying technology as a medical student at UW and co-founded TwinStrand in Seattle in 2015 to commercialize it.

The company raised backing from Seattle's Madrona Venture Group among other investors, and Section 32 led a $50 million Series B in 2021.

Salk stepped down as CEO in 2022. Ron Andrews was named permanent CEO in August 2023 after a leadership shuffle that also involved reported layoffs, according to GeekWire.

Guardant will appeal.

The California-based precision oncology company, publicly traded on Nasdaq under ticker GH, announced that Chief Legal Officer John Saia strongly disagrees with the decision and intends to seek its overturn.

Guardant argued many covered products have since been discontinued or redesigned, said current versions of its Reveal and Shield products are excluded from the order, and said it has validated design changes to its Guardant360 product to avoid future royalties. Collection of the judgment is stayed pending appeal.

Patent-related proceedings also remain active before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, though neither patent has been invalidated.

The case illustrates the commercial value of UW-licensed intellectual property. According to UW's CoMotion innovation hub, the university and its predecessors have fostered 310 deep-tech companies over three decades, with those startups raising $1.8 billion from investors in the past five years alone.

The appeal heads next to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. No hearing date has been set.