Leading pharmaceutical company, Roche received a fresh blow after the Indian Patent Office in Chennai granted a stay on the patent awarded to the company’s HIV-related drug Valganciclovir.
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The decision was challenged both in the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court forcing the Patent Office to reject the patent by claiming that it “lacked an inventive step and did not satisfy the requirement of showing increased therapeutic efficacy as required under Section 3(d) of the Patent Law”.
Meanwhile Roche has gone on the offensive and has filed a patent infringement case against Cipla, which is manufacturing a generic version of the drug.
Source-Medindia
RAS