November 12, 2002
Kamloops Daily News



While B.C. Health Minister Colin Hansen wants our province
to be business friendly, the feeling is not always mutual. 
As Hansen is finding out, business is not always friendly to
B.C.

Take the example of Myriad Genetics, based in Utah.  They
own the patent to two genes found in women who are
susceptible to breast cancer.  More precisely, Myriad owns
the patent on the gene sequences -- the blueprint of the
genes.

The genes that indicate a higher risk of breast cancer are
called (appropriately) BRCA 1 and BRCA 2.   Testing for
these genes is an important part of treatment.  If a woman
has these genes, she can maximize her chances of survival
through changes to her lifestyle, diet,  and through early
detection.   

Myriad also owns the patent on the test that
detects the genes.  Until recently, B.C. has been testing
women for the genes but stopped because Myriad has
threatened legal action.   B.C. can do the test for about
$1,200 but Myriad says it's their test and they should do it
for $3,500.  Myriad needs to extract their profit.

Health minister Hansen doesn't like the way Myriad does
business.  "There is maybe merit in patenting the
applications of how we use gene sequencing, but to actually
patent the sequence is something I certainly have great
difficulty with," said Hansen, adding that he not going to
pay the inflated cost of the test.  Hansen is not the only
one who has a problem with the patent.    

"Women at risk are being held hostage and in danger by a
private for-profit medical system," say Ira and Gerri
Withler in their letter to the Kamloops Daily News (Patent
Holds Women Hostage, Oct. 28).  The Withlers think that
there is an option.  Health minister Hansen could simply
ignore the legal threats, as Ontario is.  Take the moral
high ground -- do the tests that save lives of patients.  
Ontario is doing the tests in defiance of Myriad's legal
claims.

Myriad's patent claim defies logic and may not even be
legal.  It's not like they invented anything new.  The genes
that indicate the possibility of breast cancer were not
invented by Myriad.  BRCA 1 and 2 have been around for
hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years.  Nor did Myriad
always have a patent on the test.

Myriad is grabbing everything it can.  They also hold 99
monopoly gene patents including ovarian, colon and prostate
cancers.  But Myriad is not the only business to claim
rights to body parts.  Nearly 10,000 patents relating to the
human body have been filed worldwide.

The legality of Myriad's patent may not even stand up to a
patent challenge by B.C. to the World Trade Organization. 
The relevant WTO agreement is the Trade Related Intellectual
Property Rights agreement, signed in 1995.  Patents are
based on the concept of intellectual property.

"Intellectual property rights are the rights given to
persons over the creations of their minds. They usually give
the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her
creation for a certain period of time," says the WTO
(www.wto.org).  

Intellectual property falls under two categories --
artistic creations and industrial property. "The main social
purpose of protection of copyright and related rights is to
encourage and reward creative work," the WTO says.  These
are fine ideals.  In addition, intellectual property
includes "trade marks, inventions, industrial designs, and
trade secrets".  Fair enough.

"Governments can refuse to issue a patent for an invention
if its commercial exploitation is prohibited for reasons of
public order or morality. They can also exclude diagnostic,
therapeutic and surgical methods, plants and animals (other
than microorganisms), and biological processes for the
production of plants or animals (other than microbiological
processes)," says the WTO.

The primary responsibility of the Government of B.C. is to
its citizens, not to corporations. The Liberals are doing
the right thing by taking legal action against tobacco
companies.  This is an initiative of the NDP government to
recover the medical costs of treating cancer caused by
smoking. 

The B.C. Liberals could legally argue that testing for BRCA
1 & 2 are a diagnostic test, and that Myriad should have
never been granted a patent in the first place.  In doing
so, they would demonstrate their intention to protect
British Columbians against big business.  Health Minister
Hansen should be acting in our best interests, not Myriad's.

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