Viatris settles lawsuit over use of woman's 'immortal' cells to power drug research

By Blake Brittain

March 12 (Reuters) - Generic drugmaker Viatris VTRS.O has settled a lawsuit brought by the family of Henrietta Lacks, a Maryland woman whose tissue samples were used without her permission to develop enduring cells for lucrative medical research.

Viatris and Lacks' estate told a federal court in Baltimore, Maryland, on Wednesday that they would dismiss the case with prejudice, which means it cannot be refiled.

An attorney for Lacks' estate said her family was "pleased the parties were able to find a way to resolve this matter" and that details of the settlement were confidential. Spokespeople for Viatris did not immediately respond to a request for comment and more information.

Lacks' family has filed several lawsuits seeking to recover profits from the unauthorized use of her cells for drug research. Her estate settled a related lawsuit against Novartis in February, resolved another case against Thermo Fisher in 2023 and filed a similar lawsuit against Ultragenyx that is still ongoing.

Lacks, a Black woman whose story was told in the best-selling book "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," sought treatment for cervical cancer in 1951 at a Baltimore hospital. She died of cancer later that year at age 31.

Doctors used a sample of her tumor without her knowledge or consent to cultivate the HeLa cell line. The cells were the first to survive and reproduce indefinitely in lab conditions, and have since been used in worldwide medical research on subjects ranging from the polio vaccine to HIV treatments to sunscreen.

The estate's 2024 lawsuit accused Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based Viatris of misusing her cells to test its herpes drug Denavir and depression treatment Mylan-Mirtazapine. The family requested the company's profits from commercializing the HeLa line and a court order blocking Viatris from using the cells without its permission.

Viatris did not respond to the allegations in court.

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by David Bario and Mark Porter)

((blake.brittain@tr.com; +1 (202) 938-5713))