Challenge to Indian patent on Roche's Valcyte by local firms

Indian generic drugmakers Cipla, Matrix Laboratories and HIV/AIDS advocacy group Delhi Network of Positive People recently filed an objection to a decision made last year by the Indian Patent Office to grant a patent to Swiss drug major Roche's Valcyte (valganciclovir), which helps prevent blindness in HIV patients, according to TopNews.

The regulator took the decision without hearing arguments from DNP+ and another group that filed pre-grant opposition to the patent, claiming that the drug is a new version of an existing drug, for which Roche has not shown improved efficacy, India's Economic Times reports.