MSF Challenges Pfizer Patent Application For Pneumonia Vaccine In India

Today, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) filed a patent opposition against Pfizer’s vaccine for pneumonia in India.

According to an MSF press release, the humanitarian association hopes to prevent United States company Pfizer from getting a patent on the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PVC13) so competition can bring cheaper versions to the market.

“This is the first time a vaccine (biosimilar) patent has been challenged in India by a medical organisation, with the goal of millions more children being protected against deadly pneumonia,” the release said.

The pneumonia vaccine accounts for almost half the price of vaccinating a child in the poorest countries, it said.

Pneumonia kills almost one million children each year, according to MSF. Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) are the only two companies manufacturing the vaccine.

According to the release, “it is now 68 times more expensive to vaccinate a child than in 2001. It refers to a 2015 MSF report, The Right Shot: Bringing down Barriers to Affordable and Adapted Vaccines.”

According to the release, “an equivalent patent to the one opposed today in India was already revoked by the European Patent Office (EPO) and is currently being challenged in South Korea.”

“India must rebuff demands from pharmaceutical companies, which are backed by diplomatic pressure tactics of the U.S. and other governments, that India change its patentability standards to restrict generic competition,” MSF said.