4 February 2015Asia

NGO joins fight against Indian Sovaldi patent

Another party has thrown its hat into the ring in the fight to stop the issue of an Indian patent covering Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), a hepatitis C drug.

On January 13, the Indian Patent Office rejected an application by California-based Gilead, the maker of Sovaldi, to protect the drug.

Domestic generic drug maker Natco Pharma, and not-for-profit groups the Initiative for Medicines, Access and Knowledge, and the Delhi Network of Positive People, had opposed the application.

Gilead appealed against that decision, and on January 30 the Delhi High Court remanded the ruling for a re-hearing after finding that the patent office had relied too much on evidence provided by the opposing parties.

Gilead’s counsel argued that this evidence could have created bias in the proceedings.

According to Indian newspaper The Hindu Business Line, the three parties that opposed the application have now been joined by non-governmental organisation Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust.

The Trust, represented by public interest group Lawyers Collective, filed an opposition against the Sovaldi patent with the office following the High Court’s decision.

Anand Grover, director for Lawyers Collective, said in a statement reproduced by The Hindu Business Line: “We have studied the patent application closely and are convinced that it has no merit.

“It fails to satisfy any grounds required to meet the threshold of what is patentable under India’s patent law. Not only is it not new or inventive, it also does not comply with the requirements of section 3(d),” he added.

Section 3(d) prevents the patenting of new forms of known substances that do not result in greater efficacy.

Gilead said it would not comment on the case.


More on this story

Big Pharma
11 February 2015   A medical aid non-profit organisation has opposed a European patent held by pharmaceutical company Gilead that covers its anti-hepatitis C drug Sovaldi.

More on this story

Big Pharma
11 February 2015   A medical aid non-profit organisation has opposed a European patent held by pharmaceutical company Gilead that covers its anti-hepatitis C drug Sovaldi.