In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling last week that invalidated patents on isolated gene sequences held by Myriad Genetics, a number of companies are jumping in to offer BRCA1 and BRCA2 testing. Pharmacogenomics Reporter notes that Ambry Genetics, GeneDx, Gene by Gene, Pathway Genomics, and the University of Washington have said that they will be launching BRCA gene tests.
Indeed, Ambry Genetics, Gene by Gene, and the laboratory medicine department at UW indicate at their websites that they are now offering such tests. And Pathway Genomics has announced that its new Hereditary Cancer DNA Insight test, slated to be released in August, is to include the BRCA genes in its screen. GeneDx also says it will include the BRCA genes in its breast cancer panel, also to be introduced in August.
Greater competition will keep labs and their tests on their toes, Heidi Rehm, the chief laboratory director of the Laboratory for Molecular Medicine at Partners HealthCare Center for Personalized Genetic Medicine, tells PGx Reporter. She adds that it also may prompt labs to better understand other mutations and rare markers.