Breast cancer gene patent revoked

The European Patent Office (EPO) has revoked a patent held by US firm Myriad Genetics, on a genetic test for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. The ruling means that the company can no longer charge European laboratories for performing the test, which detects alterations in the BRCA1 gene. It follows a decision made earlier this year, in which a Europe-wide patent for a BRCA2 gene test, also marketed by Myriad, was granted to the charity Cancer Research UK (CRUK). 'It locks Myriad completely out of Europe on this', Richard Sullivan of CRUK told New Scientist magazine.

Most breast and ovarian cancers are not inherited, but around 5-10 per cent are caused by inherited mutations - many of them in one of two genes, called BRCA1 and BRCA2. Myriad Genetics has faced criticism from scientists, governments and patient groups opposed to the patents it holds on tests that look for mutations in these two genes. However, CRUK now holds a European patent on BRCA2, which apparently covers more applications than Myriad's does. The charity has said it will waive all fees for public laboratories wishing to carry out BRCA2 tests.

The EPO said in a statement that it upheld appeals from several scientific institutes against the BRCA1 patent, granted in January 2001. It said that the company's monopoly would jeopardise research into new tests for breast cancer, and that the discovery was not novel, under European patent law. 'It has demonstrated the difference between patent protection in Europe and the US, so it might be an important precedent-setter', said Sullivan. A spokesman for Myriad told the New York Times that the decision would be appealed, calling it 'another step in a long administrative process'.