High court ruling on gene patents lifts Myriad
Shares of diagnostic test maker Myriad Genetics Inc. are jumping Thursday after the Supreme Court issued a mixed ruling in a case involving the company's patents on genes at the center of its tests for increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
Myriad, based in Salt Lake City, sells a popular test for a gene linked to breast cancer—the only one available because of its patents.
The high court ruled that genes naturally found in the body cannot be patented, but that synthetically created genetic material can be patented. That leaves an opening for Myriad to continue making money, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the court's majority opinion.
Myriad shares were up 10.3 percent, or $3.48, at to $37.40. They had earlier set a 52-week high at $38.27.
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