The jury said the infringement, which involved patents on two-channel sequencing chemistry technology, had been “willful” and turned down Illumina’s counterclaims. 

BGI, and its subsidiary MGI, can’t sell the infringing products in the US until after Illumina’s patents expire.

Frank Zhang, co-founder and chair of the Hong Kong-listed Chinese biotech Genscript, parent of Nasdaq-listed cell therapy star, Legend Biotech, has been detained by Chinese authorities, along with four employees.

As China tightens its grip over clinical research using human genetic data in the country, and the US increases scrutiny over the use of personal data, multinational drug developers may face a difficult choice or even create separate entities to cater to local regulatory requirements. WuXi NextCODE provides one interesting case study.