SAN FRANCISCO,
December 2, 2013 – Invitae Corporation, a genetic diagnostics company, today
announced that it filed an action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern
District of California against Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN). By its suit, Invitae seeks a declaration that
certain Myriad patents relating to the BRCA1, BRCA2 and MUTYH genes are invalid and
are not infringed by Invitae.
Invitae’s announcement today reinforces its commitment
to defend its right to provide naturally occurring genetic information and
services to physicians for their cancer patients (see Invitae
Responds to Myriad Genetics Lawsuit). Earlier this year, the Supreme Court
ruled that naturally occurring DNA and the information it encodes cannot be
patented (Assn’n for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., 133 S. Ct.
2107 [2013]) and thus ushered in a new era of personalized medicine. Moreover, the Supreme Court’s June decision followed
its prior ruling establishing that naturally occurring biological correlations
were not patentable subject matter (Mayo Collaborative Servs. v. Prometheus
Labs., Inc., 132 S. Ct. 1289 [2011]).
“We believe the Supreme Court rulings validate
Invitae’s view that no company can claim ownership over naturally occurring
genetic information,” said Randy Scott, co-founder of Invitae. “Our suit is based on the teachings of these cases.
The legal process will take its course, and we are steadfast in our resolve.”
About Invitae Corporation
Specializing in
genetic diagnostics for hereditary disorders, Invitae’s mission is to make
multi-use genetic testing more accessible and affordable than ever before.
The company is
pursuing a strategy over the next several years to aggregate all the world's
medical genetic tests (>3,000 known Mendelian conditions) into a single
assay at a lower cost than most single gene tests today.
This capability is
increasingly enabled by the rapid advancements in DNA sequencing technology. Invitae hopes to lead the way from an era of
genetic scarcity to genetic abundance to significantly improve healthcare
worldwide.
For further
information, please visit www.invitae.com.
Contact:
Katherine Stueland
pr@invitae.com
206.226.0672
Paul Laland
BrewLife
plaland@brewlife.com
415.946.1071