Supreme Court's Myriad Genetics Decision Prompts Two Perspectives On InnovationSupreme Court's Myriad Genetics Decision Prompts Two Perspectives On Innovation

Opposing sides present differing views of how innovation will be affected as a result of the Supreme Court's Myriad Genetics ruling.

June 14, 2013

2 Min Read
Supreme Court's Myriad Genetics Decision Prompts Two Perspectives On Innovation

The debate has already begun on the ramifications on Supreme Court's Myriad Genetics decision.  In it, the court ruled that isolated genes can't be patented but synthetic material that alters those genes - also known as complementary DNA or cDNA - can.

Not surprisingly, intellectual property lawyers are none too happy. As this article notes, they have declared while the decision will increase competition, it will lower the incentive for innovation. 

Konstantin Linnik, a patent attorney at Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP in Boston, said that he believes the incentive to innovate will certainly be lessened as a result of the ruling. Biotechs will still pursue basic discoveries which can lead to gene-based diagnostic tests, he said, but “if the basic discovery is not protected, you’re going to drop the ball pretty early on.”

“It’s a pretty drastic decision, “ he said. “It can be interpreted pretty broadly.”

The industry lobby group BIO issued a statement on the decision essentially saying the same thing charging that the ruling could "unnecessarily create business uncertainty for a broader range of biotechnology inventions." It added, perhaps a tad too dramatically:

 The United States is now the only developed country to take such a restrictive view of patent eligibility, signaling an unjustified indifference towards our global economic and scientific leadership in the life sciences.
 

Meanwhile the polar opposite view of innovation emerged at DNA Traits, a division of Houston based genomics and genetic testing company Gene by Gene. Within hours of the Supreme Court decision, the company announced that it is introducing breast and ovarian cancer gene testing at a dramatically lower rate -$995 - than what Myriad Genetics charged - reportedly $3,000 to $4,000. Here's what Gene By Gene's President Bennett Greenspan said in the news release:

We commend the Supreme Court for opening the door to greater technological innovation and access to genetic tools that promise to save and improve the quality of human lives in the United States.It's critical that as an industry we are able to continue to engage in healthy competition to drive down the costs of these tests – because as more individuals have access to and undergo them, the more information we'll have about many serious diseases that eventually may lead to cures.

So, while one side is arguing that lack of patent protection means that companies have lesser incentive for innovation, the other side is arguing that making these tests widely available will yield the data necessary to understanding diseases and developing new innovations that can lead to cures.

Which side are you on?

-- Arundhati Parmar, Senior Editor, MD+DI

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