Deadly Medical Monopolies
Gene patents stifle research, inflate prices, and prevent people from getting treatment.

22 Jul 2009 / David Bollier

There is something ethically distasteful about anyone “owning” our DNA, yet that’s exactly what the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office does. It grants patents in genes (among other things). With the sanction of the U.S. Supreme Court, which recognized patents in lifeforms in 1981, one-fifth of the human genome is now privately owned.

The implications of this trend, which has been accelerating for the past few decades, are sobering. Pharmaceutical and biotech companies can legally assert exclusive control over who may study, test or look at a gene, lest such activities interfere with the profit potential of their patent.

Granting property rights in genes is supposed to be a necessary incentive to spur medical innovation and treat disease better. In practice, it is now clear that exclusive patents on genetic knowledge are an arcane form of monopoly. Not surprisingly, this means that patent holders have the ability to thwart competitive research, squelch innovative products and charge exorbitant prices. The end result, as some women are discovering, is dangerous to their health.

Myriad Genetics, a private company in Salt Lake City, owns a patent on breast cancer genes known as BCA1 and BCA2. Women who have these genes have a significantly higher risk of contracting breast and ovarian cancer. But because of its patent, Myriad is the only source of diagnostic testing for the genes.

Myriad is also the only research center that is allowed to study the BCA genes. Everyone else needs formal permission, which may require a license fee. If you happen to be a medical researcher at Harvard or UCLA or an illustrious European medical center, don’t bother trying to study these genes. It would violate Myriad Genetics’ patent.

And if you want to get a diagnostic test to see if you have BRCA gene mutations, again, you can only go to Myriad Genetics. Its BRCAnalysis® test costs $3,000.

The problems of patenting genes are not confined to breast cancer. Across the board, gene patents have gummed up scientific research and diagnostic testing by erecting artificial fences on knowledge and what can be done with it. The result: delays, restrictions and outright bans on certain forms of research. Certain forms of medical innovation are simply off-limits. The harm may sound abstract, but in fact, it hurts real people who are suffering from certain cancers or illnesses that researchers might be able to treat — if only they could share their knowledge and collaborate.

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