MSF challenges 'unmerited' patent in China for hepatitis C medicine

The international medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has filed a legal patent challenge at China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), requesting the invalidation of the patent granted to US pharmaceutical corporation Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) for the oral hepatitis C medicine velpatasvir.

The patent is being contested on the grounds that it involves well-known technologies, rendering it an unmerited patent under China’s patent law, which is consistent with the World Trade Organization rules. As of writing, Gilead has not responded to The Pharma Letter’s request for a comment.

Velpatasvir, a direct-acting antiviral (DAA), is one of the key medicines used in combination with another DAA – sofosbuvir, for the oral treatment of all six major genotypes of hepatitis C virus. Its effectiveness as a pan-genotypic medicine offering a well-tolerated cure makes it a crucial drug in the fight against hepatitis C.