AbbVie's Patent Plea for Hepatitis C Therapy Mavyret Rejected in India
New Delhi: The Indian Patent Office has rejected a patent application filed by US-based pharma company AbbVie for its Hepatitis C combination therapy glecaprevir/pibrentasvir, which is globally marketed under the brand name Mavyret.
The fixed-dose combination therapy is widely used for the treatment of Hepatitis C, and the rejection is expected to support the availability of affordable generic alternatives in India, thereby improving patient access.
According to public health advocacy organisation Third World Network (TWN), the order highlights the importance of India’s patent safeguards, including the pre-grant opposition mechanism, in preventing what it described as “unnecessary patent monopolies” that could delay access to essential medicines.
The decision gains significance as it prevents AbbVie from obtaining a secondary patent on the composition of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir. According to a lawyer associated with TWN, approval of the patent could have potentially extended the company’s market exclusivity by an additional five years.
The rejection was issued under Section 15 of the Indian Patents Act. The order noted that AbbVie did not submit reply statements or evidence in response to the pre-grant oppositions filed against the application. Subsequently, the company informed the Patent Office of its intention to abandon the application.
TOI reports that the development is also notable in light of AbbVie’s licensing agreement with the Medicines Patent Pool, under which India had reportedly been excluded as a sales territory.
