Justice for Henrietta Lacks!

Lacks’ estate has reached a confidential settlement with Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, marking the family’s second resolution in legal fights over the unauthorized use and commercialization of Lacks’ immortal “HeLa” cells. The agreement, finalized in Maryland federal court this month, follows a separate 2023 settlement between the family and Thermo Fisher Scientific and leaves other suits still active. 

In a short joint statement, 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.” The estate’s litigation, filed in 2024, alleged Novartis profited from research and products developed using HeLa-derived materials without seeking permission from Lacks’ family — a charge the company did not publicly contest in the settlement announcements.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the Lacks estate, said the resolution was a rare measure of accountability for a decades-long injustice. “For the family and her grandchildren, this is certainly justice because people said they would never realize any benefit or compensation from her immortal HeLa cells, even though these pharmaceutical companies were profiting billions and billions of dollars,” he said. The family has said the settlements do not erase the ethical harms dating to 1951, when Lacks’ cells were taken during treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital without her knowledge or consent.  

Legal experts said the Novartis settlement may intensify pressure on remaining defendants — including Ultragenyx and Viatris — as the Lacks estate narrows its path toward compensation for commercial uses of HeLa material. Courts have already allowed portions of the estate’s claims to proceed, and observers said settlements with deep-pocketed companies could shape negotiations with others. 

The Lacks case has long forced the biomedical field to confront ethical failures around consent and race. HeLa cells, first cultured from Lacks’ tumor in 1951, became a foundational tool for vaccines, gene mapping, and countless studies — yet the family lived for decades without the royalties or recognition, while both those flowed to many corporate beneficiaries. The estate’s recent legal push shows a broader demand for transparency, fair compensation. and structural change in how human biological materials are used commercially. 

It’s all but a small step towards justice for Lacks and her family, even though justice failed her 75 years ago when her cells were illegally collected and commercialized.