Sofosbuvir has just seen its patent partially canceled, which should allow the price of this treatment to be renegotiated, which costs 41,000 euros in France.
Half-victory for Médecins du Monde. In 2015, the NGO attacked the patent for sofosbuvir, this treatment against hepatitis C better known by its trade name, Sovaldi, and known for its high price – around 41,000 euros for a three-month course of treatment.
“The original patent for sofosbuvir has not been maintained, but its components remain”, patented, said the European Patent Office based in Munich in a press release, relayed by AFP.
Renegotiate
Médecins du Monde demanded the outright revocation of the patent. In its appeal, the NGO explains that by filing the patent “even before the demonstration of the increased effectiveness of sofosbuvir”, the Gilead laboratory “has reserved a field of research and has privatized a molecule on which others researchers could have worked, ”she explains in a press release.
The EPO therefore partially agreed with Médecins du Monde, which initiated this procedure with the sole objective of lowering the price of the treatment, which responds to an incomprehensible logic – in India, it costs only 200 euros. This decision should make it possible to “renegotiate downward” French and international prices with Gilead, explains the NGO.
“Regain control”
“It’s a decision that is interesting for us even if the patent was not revoked as we expected,” explained Olivier Maguet, head of the drug prices mission of Médecins du Monde, quoted by AFP. . This creates a weak legal situation for this drug and therefore allows governments to take back a little control in negotiations with manufacturers so that we do not find ourselves (in a situation) as in Germany where this drug is not billed. far from 50,000 euros to social security ”.
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-1590362612.jpg "In the UK, HIV-positive men see a 70% drop in hepatitis C")
