J&J loses attempt to extend patent in India for tuberculosis drug
India’s patent office denied Johnson & Johnson’s attempt to extend the company’s patent on a formulation of bedaquiline, which is used to treat drug-resistant tuberculosis, until 2027.
Critics of the company’s move to file a secondary patent say the office’s decision means a monopoly on the drug is over, at least in India, in part thanks to a 2019 challenge filed by two TB survivors, Nandita Venkatesan and Phumeza Tisile. They argued that approving the patent would block manufacturers’ ability to make generics.
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