Print PageA cancer survivor fought back tears today after losing a Federal Court challenge against two medical research companies which patented a breast cancer gene.
Yvonne D'Arcy and Cancer Voices Australia challenged US-based company Myriad Genetics and Melbourne-based Genetic Technologies over the patent on a breast and ovarian cancer gene known as BRCA1.
If a woman has a mutation in the BRCA genes she has up to an 80 per cent chance of developing breast cancer, and also a higher risk of ovarian cancer.
The gene could be used to identify an increased risk of the cancers in humans, but tests are controlled by Myriad Genetics.
Genetic Technologies owns the exclusive licence to the gene in Australia, but has not been enforcing its rights to control research and testing.
Cancer Voices had argued the patent would stifle research.
Today the Federal Court dismissed the argument that BRCA1 was a product of nature and could not be patented as a manufactured product.
Justice John Nicholas ruled that the gene could be patented, as it had been isolated completely separately from the human body.
He also made a cost order against Cancer Voices Australia and Ms D'Arcy, who was in tears after the ruling.
"To tell you the truth I am very disappointed ... extremely," she said.
John Stubbs, the head of another cancer support group CanSpeak, says the case was for people with all diseases which have genetic markers.
"We think that is it very important that information about people's genes [and] genetic makeup be freely available to researchers, not only in Australia, but around the world," he said.
Cancer Voices has 21 days to appeal against an order to pay costs.
