US Supreme Court knocks back Myriad Genetics patents

On Monday, March 26, the US Supreme Court sent the much-discussed Myriad Genetics patent case back to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, instructing the lower court to reconsider its decision from July 2011 that upheld the patents.

This unsurprising decision comes on the heels of a decision last week that Prometheus Laboratories, a small diagnostics company, could not patent the relationship between drug metabolites in a person’s blood and the optimum dosage of the drug, comments pharmaceutical intelligence firm GlobalData. In a strongly worded opinion, the Supreme Court unanimously concluded, “that the patent claims at issue here effectively claim the underlying laws of nature themselves. The claims are consequently invalid.” The Supreme Court clearly wants the Appeals Court to reconsider its earlier Myriad decision in light of this new precedent.

At the center of the case is Myriad’s licensing of two patents regarding genes BRAC1 and BRAC2. Patients with inherited mutations in these genes have an increased likelihood of developing breast cancer or ovarian cancer as compared to the general population. Myriad developed a genetic test called the BRACAnalysis test which allowed physicians to identify patients at the highest risk of developing cancer. Patients testing positive could then be monitored or undergo preventive medical treatment to minimize their risk.