Citing public health concerns, MSF challenges Pfizer vaccine patent in India

International aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) will argue in a Delhi court that New York pharma giant Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) ought not to have been awarded a patent for its pneumonia vaccine Prevnar13 (PCV13).

MSF says “the decision should be overturned because the patent doesn’t meet the standards laid out in India’s Patents Act.”

The group argues that the patent, which prevents local manufacturers from developing and marketing PCV13 until 2026, “deprives countless children of the opportunity to be protected against pneumonia, which kills 2,500 kids per day.”