Court of Appeals Upholds Myriad Gene Patents: Dan Vorhaus and Kevin Noonan
Submitted by Theral Timpson on Tue, 08/02/2011 - 10:46Dan Vorhaus, JD, Editor, GenomicsLawReport.com, Bio and Contact Info
Listen (17:14) Interview with Dan Vorhaus
Listen (5:43) Myriad Update 1: Details of the decision
Listen (2:46) Myriad Update 2: Judges disagree on gene patent issue
Listen (0:51) Myriad Update 3: Justice Lourie: Cleavage fundamentally alters the DNA
Listen (3:17) Myriad Update 4: Justice Moore: It takes congress or the Supreme Court
Listen (1:45 Myriad Update 5: Justice Bryson's dissent
Listen (0;38) Myriad Update 6: Most likely to be repealed
Listen (0:38) Myriad Update 7: Patents to expire soon
Listen (0:58) Myriad Update 8: What about whole genome sequencing
Kevin Noonan, Ph D, Editor, PatentDocs.org, Bio and Contact Info
Listen (11:11) Interview with Kevin Noonan
Listen (6:11) Myriad Update 9: Claims all say 'isolated' DNA
Listen (4:03) Myriad Update 10: Won't be settled until Supreme Court weighs in
Our show today is a follow-up on an earlier show about biotechnology and patent law. Last Friday, July 29th, a the Federal Circuit appeals court reversed a lower court’s ruling and upheld the right of Myriad Genetics to patent the BRCA genes. The BRCA1 and 2 genes account for most inherited forms of breast and ovarian cancers. Women who test positive using Myriad's gene test, have an 82 percent higher risk of breast cancer and a 44 percent higher risk of ovarian cancer. The gene patent issue was decided 2 to 1. The court ruled unanimously that Myriad’s method for screening potential therapies was patentable but that their method for analyzing DNA sequences did not involve sufficient transformation, and thus could not be patented.
It is anticipated that the case will be further appealed, either to the full bench of appeals or to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Read Dan Vorhaus' analysis over at www.genomicslawreport.com.
Read an in-depth analysis of Judge Moore's decision written by Kevin Noonan at www.patentdocs.org.
