NGO Asks Argentine Patent Institute to Deny Gilead Patent for HIV Drug

An Argentine foundation urged the country’s National Institute of Industrial Property to deny an antiretroviral patent request from Gilead.

Gilead’s TAF (tenofovir alafenamide fumarate) is used to treat about half of HIV patients in Argentina and has been in use for nearly a decade. It has historically been produced by an Argentine laboratory but granting the Gilead patent would substantially increase the drug’s cost.

The Positive Effect Group Foundation said the drug falls short of the inventiveness, novelty and industrial application required under Argentine patent law. Specifically, the group said, it does not meet the novelty standard because it is already a medication in the public domain.