Run-through
The Indian Patent Office has actually rejected a secondary patent for AbbVie’s Hepatitis C drug Maviret. This choice guarantees ongoing access to economical treatment for millions. The patent workplace declined the application after AbbVie stopped working to object to oppositions and picked to desert it. This rejection avoids AbbVie from extending its patent monopoly by 5 years.
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New Delhi: The Indian Patent Office has actually declined to give a secondary patent to AbbVie for its hit Hepatitis C drug mix glecaprevir/pibrentasvir, offered internationally under the trademark name Maviret. Civil liberties activists stated the relocation will make sure ongoing access to economical treatment for countless clients in India and internationally.
In the order dated May 7, 2026, the Patent Office declined the application under Section 15 of the Patents Act, 1970, after the United States business stopped working to object to pre-grant oppositions submitted by civil society groups, and consequently notified the Patent Office that it wanted to desert the application. ET has actually seen a copy of the order.
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“This decision is significant as refusal of the patent application means that AbbVie has not been able to obtain secondary patent for the composition of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir, which if granted would have extended AbbVie’s patent monopoly by five years,” stated KM Gopakumar, senior scientist and legal consultant at Third World Network.
AbbVie’s patent application was submitted in 2018. The business looked for security for a particular bilayer tablet solution of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir, an extremely efficient pan-genotypic treatment for Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection.
The application did not associate with AbbVie’s initial patent on the drug, however to a secondary patent covering its structure and formula.
Liver disease C is a liver illness impacting an approximated 35 million individuals in India.
Left without treatment, it can result in cirrhosis and liver cancer. While reliable treatments exist, their cost stays a definitive consider whether clients can access them.
Both TWN and Delhi Network of Positive individuals submitted pre-grant oppositions versus the application under Section 25( 1) of the Patents Act. The arrangement enables any celebration to officially challenge a pharmaceutical patent application before it is approved.
According to the files evaluated by ET, AbbVie was officially alerted of both oppositions in November 2025, however picked not to submit any reply or proof in reaction.
When a hearing was set up for May 4, 2026, AbbVie’s representative notified the Patent Office that the business wanted to officially desert the application and would not participate in.
The Patent Office, discovering that AbbVie had actually stopped working to attend to the objections raised, declined the application under Section 15 of the Act. Both pre-grant oppositions were concurrently disposed of.
An e-mail question sent out to AbbVie stayed unanswered till since press time on Monday.
AbbVie had actually formerly participated in a voluntary licensing contract with the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), a global public health organisation that works out licences with pharmaceutical business to help with inexpensive generic supply to lower-income nations. India was left out as a sales area from the MPP licence. While Indian producers were allowed to produce the generic medication, they were disallowed from offering it to Indian clients.
