Invitae Corporation, a genetic diagnostics company, today announced that
it filed an action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District
of California against Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN). By its suit,
Invitae seeks a declaration that certain Myriad patents relating to the
BRCA1/2 and MUTYH genes are invalid and are not infringed by Invitae.
Invitae’s announcement today reinforces its commitment to defend its
right to provide naturally occurring genetic information and services to
physicians for their cancer patients (see Invitae
Responds to Myriad Genetics Lawsuit). Earlier this year, the Supreme
Court ruled that naturally occurring DNA and the information it encodes
cannot be patented (Assn’n for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics,
Inc., 133 S. Ct. 2107 [2013]) and thus ushered in a new era of
personalized medicine. Moreover, the Supreme Court’s June decision
followed its prior ruling establishing that naturally occurring
biological correlations were not patentable subject matter (Mayo
Collaborative Servs. v. Prometheus Labs., Inc., 132 S. Ct. 1289 [2011]).
“We believe the Supreme Court rulings validate Invitae’s view that no
company can claim ownership over naturally occurring genetic
information,” said Randy Scott, co-founder of Invitae. “Our suit is
based on the teachings of these cases. The legal process will take its
course, and we are steadfast in our resolve.”
About Invitae Corporation
Specializing in genetic diagnostics for hereditary disorders, Invitae’s
mission is to make multi-use genetic testing more accessible and
affordable than ever before.
The company is pursuing a strategy over the next several years to
aggregate all the world's medical genetic tests (>3,000 known Mendelian
conditions) into a single assay at a lower cost than most single gene
tests today.
This capability is increasingly enabled by the rapid advancements in DNA
sequencing technology. Invitae hopes to lead the way from an era of
genetic scarcity to genetic abundance to significantly improve
healthcare worldwide.
For further information, please visit www.invitae.com.
Copyright Business Wire 2013