Gilead Sciences challenges compulsory licensing of its anti-COVID-19 drug in Russia

US biotech Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) has filed a lawsuit with the Russian Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Russian government to issue a license to the domestic drugmaker Pharmsynthez for the manufacture of its original anti-COVID-19 drug remdesivir without its consent, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent.

On December, 31, 2020, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree giving the right to Pharmsynthez to produce an analogue of Gilead’s Veklury (remdesivir) under the Remdeform brand without permission from Gilead within a one-year period. The Russian firm began producing its generic in February this year.

In the decree, Mr Mishustin refers to the Russian Civil Code, which allows the use of such a mechanism in the interests of national security, while the patent holder will be provided with monetary compensation. The amount of compensation was not disclosed. This was the first time a compulsory license for the production of a drug was issued in Russia.