Indian pressure group challenges company's right to patent AIDS drug

An Indian pressure group has challenged an application by a US drug company, Gilead Sciences, for a patent on tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, an antiretroviral drug that is generically produced in India.

The Indian Network for People Living with AIDS/HIV and the Delhi Network of Positive People filed their opposition last week, saying that a patent would make the drug unaffordable to people in India and other developing countries.

Tenofovir has emerged as an important antiretroviral in both first line and second line regimens. Representatives of the networks and humanitarian organisations have said that tenofovir is commonly prescribed in …