Discoverers resolve breast cancer gene inventorship:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The organisations involved in the discovery of the tumour suppressor gene, BRCA1, have reached an agreement on inventorship. The US NIH, the University of Utah and Myriad Genetics (US) have signed a document that names all three institutions as joint inventors under the leadership of Dr Mark Skolnick, who works for both Myriad and the University. The agreement also confirms that commercial rights remain with Myriad and its licensees, Eli Lilly (US) and Hybritech (US). Mutations in BRCA1 are involved in both breast and ovarian cancer.