Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders) has filed a “patent opposition” in India. This is designed to prevent the pharmaceutical company Pfizer from obtaining a patent for a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine called PCV13. MSF hopes the action will allow for more affordable vaccines to be produced and be made available to developing countries and humanitarian organisations.
In a statement, MSF highlights the fact that around one million children still die of pneumonia every year and, according to the association of medics, one reason is because, in poorer nations, there is no affordable version of the vaccine available.
There are different forms of pneumonia; in the case of the vaccine, the issue refers to pneumococcal infection caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae. With the vaccine in question, the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) contains sugars (polysaccharides) from the surface of an inactivated form of the bacterium that are joined to a protein.
With vaccine PCV13, pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) are currently the only two manufacturers of the vaccine. Pfizer has priced PCV13 (brand name Prevenar) at an increasingly high level. According to the MSF report “The Right Shot: Bringing down Barriers to Affordable and Adapted Vaccines”, it now costs 68 times more to vaccinate a child than it would have done in 2001.
MSF indicates that a producer in India has said it could supply the pneumonia vaccine for $6 per child, which stands at half the lowest global price. This is dependent upon securing the patent.
The means by which MSF is attempting this through a pre-grant opposition, where it is argued that claims that cover a certain aspect of a drug or vaccine do not merit patenting under India’s Patents Act. Here, Leena Menghaney, who is Head of MSF’s Access Campaign in South Asia, stated: “Our pre-grant opposition shows that the method Pfizer is trying to patent is too obvious to deserve a patent under Indian law, and is just a way to guarantee a market monopoly for Pfizer for many years to come,” adding: “Pfizer’s unmerited patent application on the pneumonia vaccine should be rejected, opening the door to more affordable versions of the vaccines being produced.”
MSF states it has attempted to negotiate a reasonable price for vaccine with Pfizer, but has been unsuccessful. The case is set to be heard in an Indian court.
