India Shoots Down Application for J&J’s Tuberculosis Drug Patent Extension
March 24, 2023
Johnson & Johnson notched a loss today as India’s patent office refused to extend the patent on bedaquiline, a drug for treatment-resistant tuberculosis. The company was looking to extend the patent to 2027, but the patent office’s refusal means J&J will lose the patent by July, ending the company’s monopoly of the drug and opening the door for cheaper generics.
According to Katherine Lewin, “The MFS Access Campaign described what J&J was trying to do as ‘evergreening,’ a practice used by pharmas to delay the entry of affordable generics into the marketplace. The drug is approved by the FDA in the US as part of a combination therapy in adults with pulmonary multidrug-resistant TB.”
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(Source: Endpoints News, March 23rd, 2023)
