Quest starts selling BRCA tests
pharmafile | October 17, 2013 | News story | Sales and Marketing |Â Â BRCA, Myriad, Quest, jolieÂ
Quest Diagnostics has begun selling a genetic test to uncover the risk of hereditary breast cancer, after the US Supreme Court declared earlier this year that naturally occurring genes could not be patented.
Before this Myriad Genetics’ BRACAnalysis test, designed to look for mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes which point to the chances of developing the condition, had been the only option.
The tests hit the news in May when Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie revealed she had a double mastectomy after finding out she was at a high risk of developing breast cancer.
Myriad Genetics found that Jolie had the BRCA1 mutation – and an up to 87% chance of developing the disease which also killed her mother.
At $2,500, Quest’s new BRCAvantage test is cheaper than Myriad’s, which costs more than $3,000, and this could give it leverage in a potentially lucrative market.
Around 458,000 people die each year from breast cancer, according to figures from the World Health Organisation, with one in 300 to one in 500 women carrying the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation.
Quest says that 5-10% of female breast cancers have inherited gene mutations at their core – and of these BRCA1 and BRCA2 are the most common.
“Patients need to understand their cancer risks in order to make the most informed and timeliest decisions about their health,” said Jon Cohen, Quest’s chief medical officer.
The Supreme Court’s verdict – essentially, that human genes cannot be patented, although synthetic DNA can be – came after the Association for Molecular Pathology challenged patents which Myriad had been granted on BRCA1 and BRCA2.
“Myriad did not create anything,” the court said in a statement. “To be sure, it found an important and useful gene, but separating that gene from its surrounding genetic material is not an act of invention.”
Adam Hill
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