Gilead’s Hepatitis C pill patent debate in India, concerns about access to breakthrough drug

Amidst Gilead’s Hepatitis C pill patent debate in India, concerns about access to breakthrough drug

April 21, 2014 10:42 am

by Stephanie Lee

Gilead has run into obstacles in China, which yanked the patent for its HIV and hepatitis B drug last year because the treatment lacked novelty, officials said. Brazil rejected that drug's patent in 2008. Thailand has broken patents on drugs for HIV and heart disease, and so has Indonesia for HIV and hepatitis B treatments. 

Those drugs attracted attention because they treat widespread diseases. In India, an estimated 12 million people have hepatitis C, a contagious liver disease transmitted through contact with the blood of an infected person. And Sovaldi, which won approval in the United States in December, can cure upward of 90 percent of patients. 

Gilead is reported to be investigating partnerships with three or four Indian generic manufacturers that would make and sell a version of Sovaldi at $2,000 for 24 weeks of treatment. The generics would be available in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, selected Asian countries, including India, and some smaller developing nations. 

But advocates who support the most recent patent challenges worry that $2,000 may still be beyond the reach of India's growing middle-class, and the 22 percent of 1.2 billion people who remain in poverty.

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