Federal court upholds decision on Myriad patent

The full bench of the Federal Court of Australia has ruled that Myriad Genetics can patent isolated DNA sequences associated with mutations in the breast cancer gene BRCA1.

The decision upholds the ruling in February last year, in which the court reasoned that isolated nucleic acid sequences (including DNA and RNA) do not exist in a cell as distinct from naturally occurring genes and are therefore a patentable invention in Australia.

Cancer Voices Australia began legal action over patents associated with BRCA1 in 2010 and appealed against last year’s decision, but the recent full sitting of judges has upheld the ruling.

Last year the US Supreme Court ruled that genomic DNA segments, whether or not they were isolated from their original environment, were not patentable subject matter. In a second ruling, the US court deemed that cDNA or DNA that has been chemically altered is patentable, and that genetic tests, methods of diagnosis, probes, primers used for amplifying DNA, etc, remained patentable.

A possible final option for appeal for Cancer Voices Australia is to take the matter to the High Court of Australia.