Médecins du Monde challenges Gilead’s Sovaldi patent in EU

The high price of US biotech major Gilead Sciences’ (Nasdaq: GILD) blockbuster hepatitis C (HCV) drug Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) has come under attack again, this time from Doctors of the World - Médecins du Monde (MdM).

MdM reports that Gilead made more than $10 billion from Sovaldi last year. The charity has challenged Gilead’s monopoly by becoming the first medical non-governmental organization (NGO) to contest a drug patent with the European Patent Office. It hopes the legal challenge is just the first step to ensuring access to fairly priced generic treatments for hepatitis C and could inspire other organizations to take similar action.

Leigh Daynes, executive director of Doctors of the World UK, said: “The current price of the drug may be generating unbridled profit but it is putting the pill out of patients’ reach. And that costs lives. This is an unprecedented step towards increasing access to a treatment that could save the lives of thousands of people living with hep C in Europe. We cannot stand by as people suffer and die needlessly from a disease with a cure.”