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16 September 2015Asia

Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance drops Sovaldi opposition

The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) has dropped its opposition to a patent application filed by Gilead Sciences covering its hepatitis C drug Sovaldi (sofosbuvir).

The IPA had opposed the patent application, filed at the Indian Patent Office (IPO), in January last year.

But, according to a report in life sciences news website The Pharma Letter, Gilead has voluntarily made a licensing agreement with 11 companies to sell a lower-cost generic version of the drug.

Details of the agreement have not been revealed.

Dilip Shah, secretary general of the IPA, said: “We wanted to give a message to the world that here is a model where IP and access co-exist.

“We also wanted to tell big pharma that IPA is not unreasonable and we aren’t blindly following an idea that we must oppose patent applications. If you provide access, we have no issue.”

The IPO threw out the pre-grant opposition last week.

In March this year, LSIPR reported that generics maker Natco Pharma had also dropped its opposition to the patent as it had signed a licensing deal which enabled it to make and sell a generic version of Sovaldi.

Gilead’s Sovaldi drug has faced criticism around the world for its cost; a 12-week treatment course costs $84,000.

In May this year, LSIPR reported that the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge (I-MAK) had challenged an application filed by Gilead to patent Sovaldi in Argentina, Brazil, China, Russia and Ukraine.

Another challenge to the patent in India, filed by patient representative group the Delhi Network of Positive People alongside I-Mak, is also live.


More on this story

Americas
20 May 2015   Gilead Sciences is facing a challenge to its attempt to obtain a patent for its hepatitis C drug Sovaldi in certain Asian, Latin American and European countries.
Asia
18 April 2016   Indian-based drugs companies BDR Pharmaceutical and Lee Pharmaceutical have reportedly abandoned their attempt to produce generic versions of two drugs developed by AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Asia-Pacific
10 May 2016   Gilead has been granted a patent for its hepatitis C drug Sovaldi in India, despite concerns over the cost of the drug.

More on this story

Americas
20 May 2015   Gilead Sciences is facing a challenge to its attempt to obtain a patent for its hepatitis C drug Sovaldi in certain Asian, Latin American and European countries.
Asia
18 April 2016   Indian-based drugs companies BDR Pharmaceutical and Lee Pharmaceutical have reportedly abandoned their attempt to produce generic versions of two drugs developed by AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Asia-Pacific
10 May 2016   Gilead has been granted a patent for its hepatitis C drug Sovaldi in India, despite concerns over the cost of the drug.