The estate of Henrietta Lacks has reached a Henrietta Lacks settlement with three pharmaceutical companies over the unauthorized use of her cells: Thermo Fisher Scientific in August 2023, Novartis in February 2026, and Viatris in March 2026. All three deals are confidential. A separate lawsuit against Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical remains active in federal court in Maryland as of mid-2026, and the family’s attorneys have signaled that more complaints may follow.
Why the Family Sued
In early 1951, doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital removed cancerous and healthy cervical tissue from Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman from Baltimore, without her knowledge or consent. The samples went to researcher Dr. George Gey, whose lab found the cells could divide indefinitely outside the body. Gey named them “HeLa” cells and distributed them freely. Lacks died on October 4, 1951, at age 31. Her family did not learn what had happened until the mid-1970s, by which point HeLa cells had already been commercialized and distributed globally.1Stanford Blood Center. The Complicated History of HeLa Cells
Over the seven decades since, HeLa cells became foundational to modern biomedical research — used to test the polio vaccine, study radiation, map the human genome, and develop treatments for HIV, Ebola, sickle-cell anemia, and COVID-19. The cells have been cited in more than 110,000 scientific publications, and roughly 11,000 patents are associated with the line.2FDLI. Lacks v. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.3National Library of Medicine. HeLa Cells and the Estate of Henrietta Lacks Companies mass-produced and sold HeLa-derived products the entire time. The Lacks family, as its lawsuit later put it, had “not seen a dime.”4Reuters. Thermo Fisher Settles Henrietta Lacks Lawsuit Over HeLa Cell Line
Thermo Fisher Scientific (August 2023)
On October 4, 2021, exactly 70 years after Henrietta Lacks died, her estate filed suit against Thermo Fisher Scientific in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The case, Lacks v. Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (No. 1:21-cv-02524), was assigned to Judge Deborah L. Boardman.5CourtListener. Lacks v. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Ron L. Lacks, a grandson of Henrietta Lacks, served as executor of the estate.2FDLI. Lacks v. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
The complaint alleged unjust enrichment, arguing that Thermo Fisher had knowingly profited from the HeLa cell line — originating from tissue removed on February 5, 1951 — without ever seeking consent or offering compensation. The estate sought to recover “millions of dollars in profit” the company had realized. Thermo Fisher sold at least 12 products containing the HeLa cell line and reported $44.9 billion in revenue in 2022.2FDLI. Lacks v. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.6PharmaVoice. Henrietta Lacks Lawsuit Thermo Fisher Ultragenyx Immortal Cells
Thermo Fisher moved to dismiss, arguing the claims fell outside Maryland’s statute of limitations.3National Library of Medicine. HeLa Cells and the Estate of Henrietta Lacks4Reuters. Thermo Fisher Settles Henrietta Lacks Lawsuit Over HeLa Cell Line7Science. What Does Historic Settlement Won by Henrietta Lacks’s Family Mean for Others
The family has been represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump along with Chris Seeger and Chris Ayers of Seeger Weiss.8Ben Crump Law. Family of Henrietta Lacks Announce Settlement
Novartis (February 2026)
In August 2024, the estate filed suit against Novartis in federal court in Maryland, again alleging unjust enrichment. The complaint accused Novartis of holding hundreds of patents developed using HeLa cells and cited products including the herpes drug Famvir, the CAR-T therapy Kymriah, and the gene therapy Zolgensma. It noted that Novartis had previously acknowledged on its own website that Lacks’s cells were “surreptitiously commercialized for research purposes without her knowledge.”9The New York Times. Novartis Settlement Henrietta Lacks Stolen Cells
The parties settled in February 2026 on confidential terms. Both sides said they were “pleased they were able to find a way to resolve this matter filed by Henrietta Lacks’ Estate outside of court.”10Capital B News. Henrietta Lacks Settlement Novartis11Fierce Pharma. Novartis Settles Lawsuit With Estate of Baltimore Woman Whose Cells Were Extracted
Viatris (March 2026)
The estate’s Viatris suit, also filed in August 2024 in federal court in Maryland, was resolved and formally dismissed on March 11, 2026. The dismissal covered claims against both Viatris and its subsidiary Mylan Pharmaceuticals. The terms are again confidential.12The Daily Record. Henrietta Lacks Family Reaches Third Pharma Settlement13The Banner. Henrietta Lacks HeLa Cells Settlement
Ultragenyx and Possible Further Cases
The estate filed a separate suit against Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical in August 2023, alleging the company mass-produces HeLa cells and uses a proprietary “HeLa Producer Cell Line platform” to generate revenue from licenses, partnerships, and product sales.2FDLI. Lacks v. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.14CNN. Henrietta Lacks Cells Novartis Settlement15Fox Baltimore. Henrietta Lacks Family Lawsuit Viatris Cells Maryland
The Legal Theory, and Why No Court Has Ruled on It
Each lawsuit was brought on a theory of unjust enrichment rather than a property claim over the cells themselves. That framing sidesteps Moore v. Regents of the University of California (1990), in which the California Supreme Court held 4–3 that individuals do not have property rights to cells or fluids taken from their bodies for research. John Moore, whose spleen tissue was secretly used to create a valuable cell line, lost his conversion claim, though the court did recognize a duty to disclose research or financial interests as part of informed consent.16Arizona State University Embryo Project. Moore v. Regents of the University of California
Because every Henrietta Lacks case has settled before trial, no court has decided whether the unjust enrichment theory would succeed on the merits. The legal question of what companies owe for decades of profiting from cells taken without consent remains formally unresolved.7Science. What Does Historic Settlement Won by Henrietta Lacks’s Family Mean for Others
What the Settlements Don’t Change
The settlements are between the Lacks estate and specific companies. They do not alter federal rules on human-subjects research. A 2015 proposal to require consent for research using all human biospecimens — including de-identified ones — was dropped from the final revised Common Rule that took effect in January 2019. Consent is still not required for research on unidentified biospecimens, though the final rule did add new consent-form requirements for identifiable biospecimens, including a statement about whether subjects might share in commercial profits.17National Library of Medicine. Common Rule Revisions and Biospecimen Research18AAMC. HHS Final Common Rule Updates19Harvard Committee on the Use of Human Subjects. What’s New in the Final Rule
A separate 2013 agreement between the NIH and the Lacks family governs access to HeLa whole-genome data generated with NIH funding, routing requests through a working group that includes two family members. The NIH reaffirmed the arrangement in August 2023. It reaches only NIH-funded research; privately funded work using HeLa cells is outside its scope.20National Library of Medicine. The HeLa Genome and NIH Lacks Family Agreement21National Institutes of Health. NIH Lacks Family Agreement