Myriad Genetics, Inc., et al., Respondents
Gregory A. Castanias, Counsel of Record
In the mid-1990s, scientists at a small Utah company, Helix Technologies, successfully identified, defined, and isolated two components of human DNA called BRCA1 and BRCA2, which have been linked to ovarian and breast cancer. Helix, which later changed its name to Myriad Genetics, patented the information it had gathered on the BRCA molecules and used it as part of a molecular testing service in order to assess a patient’s predisposition to these types of cancer. In 2009, Myriad and the directors of the University of Utah Research Foundation, with whom Myriad had partnered in its project, were sued by a…
