Gene patent lawsuit aims to clear up confusion in Canada

Can genes be patented? An Ottawa hospital filed a legal challenge in federal court on Monday that will bring that thorny question to Canada.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that it isnt possible to patent naturally occurring genes because they are products of nature, throwing out patents held by the company Myriad Genetics on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Carriers of harmful mutations in those genes have an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer, and testing for it became cheaper and more widely available within hours of the U.S. ruling.

But the issue has not been considered by Canadian courts. Mondays legal case, brought by the Childrens Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), deals with five patents held in Canada by the University of Utah, Genzyme Genetics and Yale University on genes and tests for an inherited cardiac condition called Long QT syndrome.

The disorder can cause fainting, seizures and sudden death. Patients who are identified before they show symptoms can be treated with drugs and, in some cases, medical implants.

Long QT is just one of thousands and thousands of genetic conditions. So (the case) is specifically about Long QT, but really its a much broader issue about the future of medicine and delivering on the potential of recent technology, said Alex Munter, president and CEO of the hospital.

Yet proponents of gene patents have long argued that invalidating them will stifle medical innovation, since patents are meant to act as an incentive to create new and better technologies.

CHEO filed the suit Monday morning; the University of Utah and the other defendants have not yet had a chance to respond.

Currently, if an Ontario doctor suspects that their patient has Long QT syndrome, the diagnosis includes sending a blood sample to a lab in the U.S.

The two-tier test currently costs approximately $4,500 (U.S.) per person, CHEO estimates, whereas researchers at the hospital believe they could administer the same process in-house for about half the cost.

The collective impact (of this case) could easily be in the orders of millions of dollars for the healthcare system, said Gail Graham, a clinical geneticist at the hospital.

Originally posted here:
Gene patent lawsuit aims to clear up confusion in Canada