Coronavirus pandemic | Gilead could face compulsory licensing despite patents if supply fails demand: Report

There is a chance Gilead may work out its own licensing deals before being forced into CL by the government.

Moneycontrol News

May 08, 2020 / 10:21 AM IST

Gilead Sciences office (REUTERS/Stephen Lam/File Photo)

Gilead Sciences’ exclusivity over remdesivir may face compulsory licensing (CL) if the company is unable to keep up production with demand. The company currently has a 15-year patent on remdesivir – which is a under trial, potential drug for treatment of COVID-19.

If the drug is successful, it could bring big profits for the company worldwide, but attorneys say this would be subject to Gilead scaling production up to demand – regardless of the patents, said a report by Bloomberg.

The company has already secured three patents and has an unknown number of patent applications for remdesivir pending. Additionally, a 5-year exclusivity from the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) if the drug is successful.

“This is an emergency use drug, so the federal government will certainly want to make this drug available to everyone who needs it… Gilead would be very vulnerable to licensure if it can’t ramp up production,” Steven Roth, a partner and intellectual property attorney with Lucas & Mercanti, LLP in New York said as per the report.

“March-in” rights provisions government to seize patents for inventions created with government funding and license them to other entities. This has so far never been invoked.

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