Senate Hearing into Genetic Monopolies Drawing to a Close
22 November 2012
An Australian Senate inquiry into the granting of patent monopolies in Australia over human and microbial genes and non-coding sequences, proteins and their derivatives is nearing the public hearings phase, according to the Life Sciences Update newsletter published by Blake Dawson.
The inquiry was established by New South Wales Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan in September 2008 in response to public backlash over the decision by Genetic Technologies to enforce its exclusive licence from Myriad Genetics to perform diagnostic testing of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer in Australia and New Zealand.
Myriad Genetics is an American genomics and genetic testing company that is the part-owner of four Australian patents that claim the BRCA1 gene (Australian patent 691958), adverse mutations of the BRCA1 gene (Australian patent 686004), the BRCA2 gene (Australian patent 773601), and methods for detecting the BRCA1 gene and its mutations (Australian patent 691331), as primary inventions.
In October 2002, Genetic Technologies (GTG), an Australian genetic testing and research company, secured an exclusive licence from Myriad Genetics to perform diagnostic testing in Australia and New Zealand for specific adverse mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. These mutations, if present, increase a woman’s risk of, and susceptibility to, developing breast and ovarian cancer.
Shortly thereafter, in May 2003, GTG announced that, as a gift to the people of Australia and New Zealand, it would not seek to enforce its intellectual property rights under the licence against other service providers in Australia and New Zealand; thus making way for comprehensive susceptibility testing to be conducted in nine publicly-funded laboratories across Australia.
In July 2008, however, GTG announced that it had made a “commercial decision” to enforce its rights under the exclusive licence as of October 6, 2008, (later delayed to November 6, 2008). The decision has prompted widespread public backlash over the negative implications such “centralisation” may have for the future of cancer research and treatment in Australia, say the Blake Dawson lawyers.
The closing date for submissions to the committee is March 19, after which public hearings will be held. It is anticipated that the committee will report to the Senate before June 2009.