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- Pathologists Send More Than 800 Messages to Senate to Stop Gene Patent Reform
Due to a recent grassroots advocacy network action alert, CAP members answered the call in a big way. A total of 444 CAP members sent 813 messages to their Senators urging them to oppose the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of 2023.
Ten years ago, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics that human genes were products of nature, not intellectual property, and that exclusive patent rights over genes should never be granted to anyone. Last year, Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced S 2140, the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of 2023. The bill would eliminate the judicially created exceptions to patent eligibility, thereby overturning the Supreme Court precedent on this issue.
The CAP strongly opposes S 2140. If enacted, it would permit patenting of human genes and naturally occurring associations between genes and disease. Gene sequences and pathogenic variants would no longer be protected from patent eligibility as ‘products of natural phenomena.’ The negative consequences of S 2140 would include additional barriers and decreased access to lifesaving genomic tests, loss of access to confirmatory testing, and substantially increased costs of implicated diagnostic testing.
Take action! Contact your Senator and urge them to oppose S. 2140 if it comes up in the Judiciary Committee.