Myriad overturn would drive up health care costs and hurt quality of care

Patents on Genomic Sequences Increase Costs and Reduce Access to Medical Innovations

Myriad Genetics priced its genetic tests at a level beyond the means of many individuals, leading to widespread criticism of the company and the patents that gave it a monopoly over testing the BRCA1/2 genes. Issues surrounding access to genetic testing thus lay at the heart of the Myriad litigation. The issue of access was central to the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the case, and its recruitment of numerous patient advocacy groups, health care providers, and medical societies as plaintiffs and amici curiae (Contreras, 2020). The Supreme Court’s decision invalidating most of Myriad’s gene patents was widely heralded as a victory for health care access. A return to the days of genomic sequence patents would reverse this victory and again enable private firms to wield legal exclusivity to increase patient costs, burden the health care system, and exclude those most in need from critical medical innovations.