- Hyderabad-based generic pharmaceutical company Natco Pharmaceuticals filed a ‘pre-grant opposition’ with the Indian Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trademarks against the granting of a patent to U.S. pharmaceutical major Gilead Sciences for its drug Sovaldi, used for the treatment of Hepatitis C, on the grounds that its pro-drug and compound, sofosbuvir, is a known product, and is therefore not inventive enough.
- Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) and Initiative for Medicine and Access to Knowledge (I-MAK) have also filed pre-grant opposition on similar grounds earlier.
- Under India’s patent laws, the validity of a pending patent application can be contested by a third party. And the grant of a patent can be opposed on the grounds that it lacks a novel and inventive step, among others.
- Sofosbuvir, a once-daily regimen, is a direct-acting anti-viral (DAA), which reduced treatment time to 12 weeks from 24-48 weeks, and will potentially replace the injection based therapy.
- Read at: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-business/natco-moves-to-oppose-gilead-hepatitis-c-drug-patent/article5906715.ece
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