A French healthcare campaign group has launched a legal challenge to the patent covering Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), the blockbuster hepatitis C virus (HCV) drug marketed by Gilead. Médecins du Monde (MDM) has told the European Patent Office (EPO) ‘the molecule itself is not sufficiently innovative to warrant a patent’.
HCV
infection can clear within a few months. But for about 80% of those
infected, it develops into a chronic condition. According to the World
Health Organization, 130–150 million people are living with chronic HCV
infection.
Read more... Labels: Europe, Médecins du Monde (MDM), Sofosbuvir, Sovaldi patent dispute