Hepatitis C drugs re-energize global fight over patents

Lawsuits in India and Argentina seek to reduce drug costs by allowing generic versions of antiviral treatments.

As the world’s main supplier of generic drugs, India is at the centre of the current patent fight. Patient advocates celebrated when the country’s patent office rejected Gilead’s application for a basic patent on sofosbuvir in January 2015, on the grounds that it was not scientifically inventive enough to warrant exclusivity, despite its clear medical advantages. But an Indian court overturned the decision last May — and that verdict in turn is now being contested.

Four of the lawsuits filed in February target other Indian patents on sofosbuvir and two related drugs, Gilead’s velpatasvir (sold in combination with sofosbuvir under the name Epclusa) and Daklinza (daclatasvir) from Bristol-Myers Squibb in New York City. The fifth challenges Gilead’s application to patent sofosbuvir in Argentina.

“The science behind sofosbuvir doesn’t merit these patents,” says Tahir Amin, director of the Initiative for Medicines, Access and Knowledge in New York City. The activist group is involved in a dozen ongoing lawsuits related to patents for hepatitis C drugs — including the cases in India and Argentina, and others in Brazil, the European Union, Egypt and Ukraine.

Source Nature