On March 18, 2015, KEI, KEI Europe, and Essential Inventions submitted proposals for global voluntary licences for all patents necessary for hepatitis C (HCV) medicines to five drug companies — AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead, Janssen, and Merck.
The proposed licences would permit the manufacture, import, export and sale of generic HCV medicines in every country in the world. Significantly, the proposal puts forth an innovative royalty structure that accounts for income disparity, HCV incidence rate, and the differing health statuses of HCV patients in countries around the world, and provides a detailed annex demonstrating the royalties that companies would stand to earn in various specific countries for treating patients at different stages of infection.
- Voluntary Licence Request to Abbvie on HCV Patents
- Voluntary Licence Request to Bristol-Myers Squibb on HCV Patents
- Voluntary Licence Request to Gilead on HCV Patents
- Voluntary Licence Request to Janssen on HCV Patents
- Voluntary Licence Request to Merck on HCV Patents
Earlier, KEI Europe sought voluntary HCV patent licenses from BMS and Gilead for the territory of Romania, and subsequently asked the Government of Romania to petition the court for compulsory licenses on HCV patents. A copy of the KEI Europe press release is here (html, pdf)
For more information, or if you have any questions, contact Andrew Goldman, Counsel for Policy and Legal Affairs at KEI via email at andrew.goldman[at]keionline.org.