ACLU v. Myriad: S.D.N.Y. Invalidates Human Gene Patents March 29, 2010
After nearly three years of litigation in ACLU v. Myriad Genetics, the Southern District of New York issued a landmark ruling today in favor of the ACLU and declared several human gene patents to be invalid.
The patents claimed ownership to methods and materials related to the isolation of BRCA1 and BRCA2, which are part of the tumor suppressor gene family in humans. The patents further claim ownership over methods of comparing these genes to healthy genes for the purposes of detecting abnormalities or genetic mutations in DNA sequences . A skilled clinician can then determine the presence of breast and ovarian cancer, or if a person has a strong likelihood of developing those cancers in their lifetime (somewhere around 70%, if memory serves).
Collectively, Myriad owns or has the exclusive rights to seven patents which deal with the DNA sequencing of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. The effect from this ownership, the ACLU argues, is that Myriad Genetics owns a legal monopoly on all diagnostic processes, which hurts women’s public health at large and restricts cancer research and development.
We’ve yet to read the lengthy 152-page court ruling (read it here at the New York Times), but we’ll get through it over the next several days. In the meantime, you can also find multiple articles on the ruling circulating in the media, including: TechDirt, LATimes, Newsweek, Wired
Make no mistake, this is a huge case and a highly significant ruling. Stayed tuned. We’ll cover it on our next podcast with detailed analysis.
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[...] Myriad Genetics expressed their disappointment and announced their plans to appeal Monday’s ruling which invalidated seven patents related to BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes and diagnostic testing for breast [...]