Aggregated News
Myriad Genetics is suing competitors that have begun to offer genetic testing for breast cancer risk after the Supreme Court’s ruling last month that human genes cannot be patented.
The court’s decision invalidated patents the company had on two genes that, when mutated, meant a woman had a very high chance of getting breast or ovarian cancer.
Within hours of the decision, various companies and academic laboratories announced they would offer tests of those two genes, breaking the hold that Myriad held for nearly two decades. Many of the new tests were less expensive than the roughly $4,000 that Myriad charged for a full analysis of the two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2.
But Myriad this week sued two of those competitors — Ambry Genetics and Gene by Gene — saying their tests infringed some of the more than 500 other patent claims that were not invalidated by the Supreme Court, for instance, on synthetic DNA used as probes and on methods of testing.
Both suits were filed in Federal District Court in Salt Lake City, where Myriad is based. Myriad...
The court’s decision invalidated patents the company had on two genes that, when mutated, meant a woman had a very high chance of getting breast or ovarian cancer.
Within hours of the decision, various companies and academic laboratories announced they would offer tests of those two genes, breaking the hold that Myriad held for nearly two decades. Many of the new tests were less expensive than the roughly $4,000 that Myriad charged for a full analysis of the two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2.
But Myriad this week sued two of those competitors — Ambry Genetics and Gene by Gene — saying their tests infringed some of the more than 500 other patent claims that were not invalidated by the Supreme Court, for instance, on synthetic DNA used as probes and on methods of testing.
Both suits were filed in Federal District Court in Salt Lake City, where Myriad is based. Myriad...