In October, the Science Coalition reported that the decrease in funding to research institutions, such as the U, will hurt companies such as Myriad Genetics, a former start-up company at the U that has since become a separate entity.
Myriad Genetics is a diagnostic laboratory that focuses on tests to help reduce the risk of diseases such as cancer and has been a leader in this field for over two decades. It does this by taking a look at the patient’s genetic risk of getting a disease.
“[Myriad Genetics does] a lot of different molecular tests to help with health care,” said Ron Rogers, head of corporate communications and media relations at Myriad.
Their research is fundamental in identifying someone’s likelihood of contracting a disease before it develops using these tests. Its research also focuses on developing better, cheaper ways to combat these diseases.
“Angelina Jolie, for example, chose to have a double mastectomy when she learned through Myriad’s tests that she carried the BRCA1 gene and thus had about an 87 percent risk of contracting breast cancer,” said Nick Swisher, marketing manager at technology and venture commercialization at the U. “This not only saved her life, it reduced her overall health care costs and time spent in treatment.”
Myriad gets separate funding for their projects, so the decrease in federal funding will not directly impact their research, but it could harm the basic research done at institutions such as the U, which companies such as Myriad rely on.
“There are two different types of research: basic research, often known as fundamental or primary research, and translational research, or commercial research” Swisher said.
Swisher said companies like Myriad prefer to have institutions like the U do the basic research so they can focus their time and energy on commercializing inventions.
Because companies similar to Myriad focus their attention on translational research, they must rely on breakthroughs on the basic research level. This is where the decrease in federal funding can do harm to companies like Myriad. Swisher compared basic research to the foundation of a building and the translational research to everything built on that foundation. Swisher also said the decrease in federal funding will not, and has not, directly impacted Myriad Genetics.
Myriad Genetics was founded in 1991 as a startup company at the U and one of the first companies of its kind. Although they are now separate from the U, Myriad still depends on the basic research done at the U and is still located at the U’s Research Park. According to their website, they have helped benefit over 1,000,000 patients with their work on hereditary cancer testing. In 2012 Myriad Genetics expanded internationally and opened its first laboratory in Munich, Germany.