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Type | Public |
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Traded as | foundation = Salt Lake City, Utah, USA (1992) |
Industry | Health Care biopharmaceutical biotech |
Headquarters | Salt Lake City, Utah, USA |
Key people | Peter Meldrum, President and CEO |
Website | www.myriad.com |
Myriad Genetics, Inc. is a molecular diagnostic company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Myriad employs a number of proprietary technologies that permit doctors and patients to understand the genetic basis of human disease and the role that genes play in the onset, progression and treatment of disease. This information is used to guide the development of new molecular diagnostic products that assess an individual's risk for developing disease later in life (predictive medicine), identify a patient's likelihood of responding to a particular drug therapy and tailor a patient's drug dose to ensure optimal treatment (personalized medicine), and assess a patient's risk of disease progression and disease recurrence (personalized medicine). Myriad was the subject of scrutiny after it became involved in a lengthy lawsuit over its controversial patenting practices.[1][2][3]
Contents |
History
The global search for a genetic basis for breast and ovarian cancer began in earnest in 1988. In 1990, at an American Society of Human Genetics Meeting, a team of scientists led by Mary-Claire King, Ph.D., from University of California at Berkeley announced the localization through linkage analysis of a gene associated with increased risk for breast cancer (BRCA1) to the long arm of chromosome 17.[4] In August 1994, Mark Skolnick and researchers at Myriad, along with colleagues at the University of Utah, the U.S National Institutes of Health (NIH), and McGill University sequenced BRCA1.[5]
Founders
The founders of Myriad are Mark Skolnick (Adjunct Professor in the Department of Medical Informatics at the University of Utah), Walter Gilbert (1980 Nobel Laureate in chemistry and Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University) and Peter Meldrum (past President and CEO of Agridyne and current CEO and President of Myriad Genetics, Inc) and Kevin Kimberlin of Spencer Trask & Company[6]
Subsidiary
Myriad Genetic Laboratories, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Myriad Genetics, Inc., has launched eight commercial molecular diagnostic products, including four predictive medicine, three personalized medicine products and one prognostic medicine product.
Myriad currently offers the following predictive medicine products based on DNA testing from blood: BRACAnalysis (assesses risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer), COLARIS (assesses risk for hereditary colorectal and uterine cancer), COLARIS AP (assesses risk for hereditary familial adenomatous polyposis colon cancer syndromes) and MELARIS (assesses risk for hereditary melanoma) and PANEXIA (assess risk for hereditary pancreatic cancer).
Myriad currently offers the following personalized medicine tests based on the investigation of blood or tissues: TheraGuide (predicts toxicity to Fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapy), OnDose (measures a patient’s exposure to 5-FU chemotherapy), PREZEON (assesses the status of the PTEN gene) and a prognostic medicine product: PROLARIS (assesses the aggressiveness of prostate cancer).
Timeline
- 1991 - BRCA1 was linked to chromosome 17 by UC Berkeley scientists
- 1991 - Myriad Genetics was founded by Dr. Walter Gilbert, Mark Skolnick, Kevin Kimberlin and Peter Meldrum
- 1994 - BRCA1 was cloned at the University of Utah in Mark Skolnick’s lab and published by 40 collaborators
- 1994 - First BRCA1 U.S. patent was filed by the University of Utah, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and Myriad Genetics
- 1994/1995 - Development of process and laboratory to perform high throughput sequencing by Myriad
- 1995 - BRCA2 was resequenced based on unpublished information at the Myriad facility and the University of Utah by Mark Skolnick and collaborators
- 1995 - First BRCA2 patent filed in the U.S. by the University of Utah and other institutions
- 1996 - Myriad launched BRACAnalysis, a predictive medicine product for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer
- 1997 - First BRCA1 patent was granted in the U.S. to the University of Utah, NIEHS and Myriad Genetics
- 1998 - First BRCA2 patent was granted in the U.S. to the University of Utah, NIEHS and Myriad Genetics
- 2000 - Myriad launched COLARIS, a predictive medicine product for hereditary colorectal and uterine cancer
- 2002 - Myriad launched COLARIS AP, a predictive medicine product for adenomatous polyposis colon cancer syndromes
- 2002 - Myriad launched MELARIS, a predictive medicine product for hereditary melanoma
- 2007 - Myriad launched TheraGuide 5-FU, a personalized medicine product to predict toxicity to 5-FU-based chemotherapy
- 2008 - Myriad launched PREZEON, a personalized medicine product to assess the status of the PTEN gene
- 2009 - Myriad launched OnDose, a personalized medicine product to measure a patient’s exposure to 5-FU chemotherapy
- 2010 - Myriad launched PANEXIA, a predictive medicine product for hereditary pancreatic and related cancers
In July, 2009, the spin off, Myriad Pharmaceuticals, was completed. Myriad Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of therapeutic products.[7]
BRCA1 Co-discoverers
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
- University of Utah Research Foundation
- University of Laval/Endo Research – Quebec
- Hospital for Sick Children – University of Toronto
- University of Tokyo
- Myriad Genetics, Inc.
BRCA2 Co-discoverers
- University of Utah Research Foundation
- Hospital for Sick Children – University of Toronto
- University of Pennsylvania
- Myriad Genetics, Inc.
Legislation and Litigation
Myriad Genetics is a defendant in the case Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics (formerly Association For Molecular Pathology et al. v. United States Patent and Trademark Office[8]). Lawyers at the ACLU serve as counsel for the plaintiffs. In the suit, medical associations, doctors, and patients sued Myriad Genetics to challenge seven United States patents on genes related to breast cancer and ovarian cancer.[9]
Two of the company's patents on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes were ruled invalid on March 29, 2010 by Judge Robert W. Sweet in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.[1][2][3] This was the first time a U.S. court had declared a gene patent invalid.[1] On appeal, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the trial court in an opinion dated July 29, 2011 and held that the genes were eligible for patents.[10]
On December 7, 2011, the ACLU filed a petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court.[11] On March 26, 2012, the Supreme Court vacated the Federal Circuit's judgment and remanded the case for further consideration in light of Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., in which the Supreme Court had ruled, just six days earlier, that more restrictive rules were required to patent observations about natural phenomena.[12]
On August 16, 2012, the Federal Circuit reaffirmed Myriad's right to patent the genes although they denied rights to patent comparisons of DNA sequences.[13] On November 30, 2012, The Supreme Court agreed to hear a second challenge to the two gene patents held by Myriad.[14] Oral argument took place on April 15, 2013, with a decision expected by the end of the Supreme Court's term in June.[15]
See also
- Biological patent
- Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics
- Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc.
References
- ^ a b c Begley, Sharon (March 29, 2010). "In Surprise Ruling, Court Declares Two Gene Patents Invalid". Newsweek. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
- ^ a b Schwartz, John and Pollack, Andrew (March 29, 2010). "Judge Invalidates Human Gene Patent". The New York Times. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
- ^ a b "ACLU v. Myriad Genetics opinion". 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2010-03-30.
- ^ Hall, J.; Lee, M.; Newman, B.; Morrow, J.; Anderson, L.; Huey, B.; King, M. (1990). "Linkage of early-onset familial breast cancer to chromosome 17q21". Science 250 (4988): 1684–1689. doi:10.1126/science.2270482. PMID 2270482.
- ^ Miki, Y.; Swensen, J.; Shattuck-Eidens, D.; Futreal, P. A.; Harshman, K.; Tavtigian, S.; Liu, Q.; Cochran, C. et al. (1994). "A strong candidate for the breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1". Science 266 (5182): 66–71. doi:10.1126/science.7545954. PMID 7545954.
- ^ "Breakthrough: The Race to Find the Breast Cancer Gene," page 199, by Kevin Davies and Michael White John Wiley & Sons.
- ^ Staff (2 July 2009) Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Established As An Independent Pharmaceutical Development Company Pharmaceutical Online, Retrieved 21 January 2013
- ^ "Association For Molecular Pathology et al v. United States Patent and Trademark Office et al". Justia.com. May 12, 2009.
- ^ "ACLU Challenges Patents on Breast Cancer Genes". American Civil Liberties Union. June 6, 2008.
- ^ "Myriad Applauds the Court of Appeals' Decision to Uphold Gene Patenting". Myriad Genetics. 2011-07-29. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
- ^ http://jurist.org/paperchase/2011/12/aclu-ask-supreme-court-to-rule-on-gene-patent-case.php
- ^ Pollack, Andrew (March 26, 2012). "Supreme Court Orders New Look at Gene Patents". The New York Times.
- ^ "Court Reaffirms Right of Myriad Genetics to Patent Genes". New York Times. August 16, 2012.
- ^ "Myriad Genetics slips on Supreme Court review". Bloomberg Business Week. December 3, 2012.
- ^ "Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics". ACLU. Retrieved 17 May 2013. "On May 12, 2009, the ACLU and the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) filed a lawsuit charging that patents on two human genes associated with breast and ovarian cancer, BRCA1 and BRCA2, are unconstitutional and invalid. On November 30, 2012, the Supreme Court agreed to hear argument on the patentability of human genes. The ACLU argued the case before the U.S. Supreme Court on April 15, 2013. We expect a decision this summer."