Australia court rules against breast cancer gene patent

Australia’s highest court has unanimously ruled that a mutated gene that causes cancer can not be subject to a patent, or right to control use of the gene.

Myriad Genetics however ensured patents that innovation could be commercialized for everyone’s benefit.

Breast cancer is the leading cancer killer of women aged 20-59 worldwide, and supporters of the case had argued that patenting a gene could stymie medical research and testing. The Utah-based company patented the BRCA1 gene in the 1990s.

The arguments used in the Australian case were similar to those applied in the United States, where the Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that the isolation of BRCA1 was not enough to render genes patentable.

Lawyers for Ms D’Arcy told the High Court the genetic material covered in the patent was merely isolated, and was not eligible to be patented under Australian law.

According to Gordon J, this correlation is a fact that existed before Myriad discovered it. In her opinion, Claim 1 directed to an isolated nucleic acid did not “embody” the idea or principle that underlies the invention, namely to carry out genetic testing of patients to determine susceptibility to breast cancer.

Myriad expressed disappointment over the judgment: “The High Court’s decision comes at a critical time when we’re entering the golden era of personalized medicine”.

They contended that allowing corporations to own patents over human genes stifles cancer research and allows them to charge exorbitant rates for patients who wish to be tested for the BRCA1 mutation.

Ms D’Arcy’s involvement began in 2010 when the social justice practice of legal firm Maurice Blackburn took up the case on her behalf – the start of a five-year legal battle in the face of long odds.

I’m only a little person, but it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

The ruling in The Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics Inc. was unanimous in deciding that naturally occurring DNA cannot be patented but complementary DNA (cDNA) that is created in a lab can be.

“For all these individuals who do have the genetic footprint for breast cancer, ovarian cancer, any cancer principally, it is a win for them as a result of they’re forewarned”, she stated, including that she anticipated testing would grow to be cheaper and extra obtainable.