As Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) 20-year primary patent on the critical, lifesaving drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) drug bedaquiline expired in the majority of countries including India on July 18, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reiterated its call for the U.S. pharmaceutical corporation to publicly announce that it will not enforce any ‘secondary’ patents for the drug in any country with a high burden of TB. Moreover, it should withdraw and abandon all pending secondary patent applications for this critical drug everywhere.
MSF also called for a commitment from J&J to not take any legal action against any generic manufacturer that exports generic versions of bedaquiline to or from TB high-burden countries where secondary patents on the drug exist.
“The corporation should make this announcement public by the U.N. TB Summit taking place in New York this September,’’ it said.
