French, US Researchers Fight Over Cancer Gene

PARIS

Three French medical institutes, reviving a conflict over the right to patent gene-related discoveries, vowed to fight a new claim by an American firm on a gene linked to breast and ovarian cancer.

    The Institut Curie, the Institut Gustave Roussy, and Assistance publique-Hopitaux de Paris said they would file opposition at the European Patent Office, which is examining the claim lodged by Myriad Genetics of Salt Lake City, Utah. Myriad Genetics has already filed for two patents for applications relating to the BRCA1 gene, which has been found to play a key role in the two forms of female cancer. Those two claims are likewise being contested.

    The French institutes say that the requests are being formulated in such a way that Myriad would wield a "monopoly" over any use of knowledge about BRCA1, ranging from diagnostic applications to pharmaceutics and creating genetically-modified lab animals that carry the gene for medical research. They are being supported by leading scientific and genetic research institutes across western Europe, including the Austrian and Dutch health ministries.

    If the patents are granted, Myriad Genetics would have sole rights to test women for susceptibility to the BRCA1, and all samples would have to be sent to the corporation's facility in Utah, they complained.

    "The requirement to send samples to Myriad will enable this company to have the biggest data bank of its kind in the world," said Thomas Tursz, director of the Institut Gustave Roussy.

    The European Union has approved laws that bar patents for the discovery of a gene, but permit those relating to an application using that knowledge.