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Pharmaceuticals

Group challenges Pfizer patent

by Jean-François Tremblay
March 21, 2016 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 94, Issue 12

Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, has filed a “patent opposition” in India against the Pfizer pneumonia vaccine Prevenar. MSF argues that Prevenar does not merit a patent because the method it uses to conjugate 13 serotypes of streptococcus pneumonia was not granted a patent in Europe. MSF claims that an Indian drug firm has offered to supply the vaccine for $6.00 per shot, or $4.00 less than Pfizer’s lowest price in low-income countries. Pfizer says it has not yet seen MSF’s petition and that it is still in discussions with Indian government health officials.

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