Photo credit: MSF/Alexandra SadokovaJohnson & Johnson confirmed its intent not to enforce patents it owns and controls for SIRTURO® (bedaquiline) in the treatment of multidrug-resistant TB in 134 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The decision is intended to assure current and future generic manufacturers that they may manufacture and sell generic versions of SIRTURO® without a concern that the company will enforce its bedaquiline patents, provided the generic versions of SIRTURO® are of good quality, medically acceptable, and are used only in the 134 LMICs.
Médecins Sans Frontières, Treatment Action Group and Unitaid acknowledged the announcement following years of activist pressure, further urging Johnson & Johnson to formally withdraw all remaining secondary patents of bedaquiline in LMICs, so as to firmly and indisputably place the drug into the public domain. On 22 September 2023, Unitaid joined the advocates’ unanswered calls for broad access to bedaquiline by sending an open letter to Johnson & Johnson.
For more TB news, check out the latest edition of the TB Online Weekly Newsletter (#30, 5 October 2023) with the latest TB advocacy and research updates.
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