Myriad: Finding the Breast Cancer Gene

Description: Myriad Genetics is a leading molecular diagnostic company dedicated to developing and marketing novel predictive, personalized and prognostic medicine products to assess a person’s risk of developing disease and guide treatment decisions.

Products: Myriad’s portfolio of nine molecular diagnostic products are based on an understanding of the role genes play in human disease and were developed with a focus on improving an individual’s decision making process for monitoring and treating disease. 

Accomplishment: Myriad co-discovered, along with other research partners, BRCA 1 & 2, the genes that are associated with increased risk of breast cancer to the long arm of chromosome 17. It was later sequenced and cloned and a patent was filed and issued. While the patent has been challenged, its validity has recently been upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Founders: Walter Gilbert (1980 Nobel Laureate in chemistry and Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University), Kevin Kimberlin of Spencer Trask & Company, Mark Skolnick (Adjunct Professor in the Department of Medical Informatics at the University of Utah) and Peter Meldrum (past President and CEO of Agridyne and current CEO and President of Myriad Genetics).

Initial financing: $10 million by Spencer Trask in 1992

Initial Public Offering: October, 1995

Recent News: U.S Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Rules Myriad's Composition of Matter Claims for BRCA1 and BRCA2 are Patent-Eligible  (July 29, 2011)