Medicines access group takes aim at Sovaldi patents

Two new patent challenges have been launched by the New York-based patient access and public health activist I-MAK - the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge.

The actions are being taken against sofosbuvir-based products. Sofosbuvir is the generic name for HCV drug Sovaldi.

These challenges, which build on previous legal bids that the group filed against six sofosbuvir patents in October, are based on patents which relate to particular mixtures of active and inactive ingredients, a practice I-MAK describes as a “classic case of how pharmaceutical companies try to extend their patent exclusivity.”

I-MAK says that if it is successful in overturning the eight patents held by California’s Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD), then US taxpayers would save more than $10 billion as a result of generics coming to market 16 years sooner.