Myriad likely to be appealed by plaintiffs

In a not-unexpected move, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Public Patent Foundation said last week they will beat the December deadline and petition the Supreme Court to overturn a CAFC decision and rule that Salt Lake City-based Myriad Genetics cannot hold patents on human genes.

They have a good chance at having certiorari granted, as the U.S. Supreme Court has already agreed to hear Mayo Clinic’s appeal of CAFC’s (twice) upholding of the validity of two patents from Prometheus Laboratories Inc. for a test that determines optimal drug dosages to treat Crohn’s disease and other autoimmune diseases. That argument is scheduled for December 7.