Biotech Industry Sees Victory in Appeals Court Ruling on Myriad Patents; Supreme Court Likely to Weigh In

In a victory for the biotechnology industry, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled 2–1 to reaffirm its earlier ruling that Myriad Genetics can patent genes related to its breast and ovarian cancer screening system. The appeals court ruled that the isolated DNA within genes is not a product of nature and companies can patent such genes. However, they cannot patent methods to compare gene sequences.
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