[Ip-health] MSF Access Campaign Statement: VALGANCICLOVIR PATENT SET ASIDE IN INDIA

[Alexandra HEUMBER]

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VALGANCICLOVIR PATENT SET ASIDE IN INDIA



M=E9decins Sans Fronti=E8res statement



4 December 2008

International medical humanitarian organisation M=E9decins Sans Fronti=E8re=
s (MSF)
welcomes the ruling by the Madras High Court instructing the Patent Office =
to
hear the opponents to the patent application for valganciclovir by the
pharmaceutical company Roche.



In June 2007, the Patent Office granted Roche a patent for valganciclovir. =
It
did so however without hearing the civil society organisations that had fil=
ed
pre-grant oppositions against the application.  This week, the High Court h=
as
decided that this denial leads to the annulment of the patent grant.



The Patent Office will now be asked to hear the arguments of civil society
organisations - the Indian Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS (INP+) a=
nd
the Tamil Nadu Networking People with HIV/AIDS (TNNP+) ? that oppose the
granting of the patent.



Valganciclovir is used in the treatment of an opportunistic infection cause=
d
by cytomegalovirus (CMV), that, untreated, can cause blindness and death in
people living with HIV/AIDS.  Roche charges US$10,000 for a four-month cour=
se
of valganciclovir.  In December 2006, MSF approached Roche in order to seek=
 a
lower price, and the company agreed on a price of US$1,900 for least-develo=
ped
and a few other countries. This price is so prohibitively expensive that ma=
ny
MSF projects had to opt out of using this treatment.



MSF is working towards increased access to this drug and looks forward to a
decision by the Patent Office that will lead to a dramatically lower price,
thereby making this treatment accessible, especially in middle-income
countries that have the capacity to diagnose and treat CMV retinitis and
systemic CMV disease.



MSF will continue to follow this issue closely.



For more detailed information, please refer to:



the website of the Lawyers Collective

http://www.lawyerscollective.org/amtc/current-issues/valganciclovir



?and an article published in the Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/hc-orders-reviewroches-drug-pat=
ent/08/36/342084/



____________________________________
Alexandra Heumber
IP Policy Adviser
M=E9decins Sans Fronti=E8res
Access to Essential Medicines Campaign
Rue Dupr=E9, 94. 1090 Brussels
++32 (0) 2 474 75 09 (Dir off)
++ 32 (0) 479 514 900 (Mob)
++ 32 (0) 2 474 75 75 (Fax)