China wants to patent Gilead’s experimental coronavirus drug

Bloomberg

Chinese researchers have applied for a local patent on an experimental Gilead Sciences Inc drug that they believe might fight the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology — based in the central Chinese city at the epicenter of the epidemic — has applied for a patent in China for the use of the antiviral drug, known as remdesivir, in treating the ailment. The application was made on January 21 along with a military academy, according to a February 4 statement on the institute’s website.
The move is a sign that China wants more intellectual property sway over a drug it deems one of the most promising candidates. Beijing has moved aggressively to contain the infection that has killed almost 500 people and infected nearly 25,000. If this patent is granted, Gilead will need to get Chinese patent owners on board when it wants to sell the drug for treating the novel coronavirus infection outside China.
“The good thing in having a patent is that it would lead to cross-licensing situations that give China more bargaining chips in negotiating the licensing fee with Gilead,” said Wang Yanyu, a senior partner at AllBright Law Offices in Beijing. “When Gilead wants to sell the drug to other countries for fighting new coronavirus, it will have to negotiate with China as the country which owns the patent for that specific purpose.”

Makes Sense
It is not clear if or when China’s intellectual property authorities will approve the institute’s application. The patent filing will need to prove that the drug works on this coronavirus strain, 2019-nCoV, in a way that’s different from how it works on other viruses in the same category.
Filing of the patent application by a stakeholder in China, however, makes sense, according to Wang. “Most of the patients are here, rather than in the US which makes it unlikely that Gilead will do all these tests,” he said.
While Gilead’s experimental drug isn’t licensed or approved anywhere in the world, it is being rushed into human trials in China on coronavirus patients after showing early signs of being highly effective. It may go into clinical trials in China as early as next week in patients with moderate and severe symptoms of the novel pathogen, said Merdad Parsey, Gilead’s chief medical officer.
Chinese scientists have found Gilead’s remdesivir, and chloroquine, an 80-year-old malaria drug, “highly effective” in laboratory studies at thwarting the novel coronavirus, they said in a paper in the journal Cell Research.
The two drugs’ efficacy on humans required further clinical tests, the institute said in the statement. Gilead will retain the global rights to market the antiviral medication — once approved — for treating other illnesses such as Ebola and Sars that the drug was originally aimed for

Hong Kong quarantines mainland travellers
Bloomberg

Hong Kong’s leader said the city will quarantine people arriving from mainland China, including Hong Kong residents and visitors entering via its international airport, as authorities step up efforts to halt the spreading coronavirus outbreak.
The quarantine requirement will go into effect on February 8 at midnight, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a briefing Wednesday, saying the situation was now “worrying” and the virus was spreading among residents who hadn’t recently traveled to China. Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan said she believes there could be even more locally infected cases.
Lam said the city would implement a system of smart wristbands to monitor those meant to stay quarantined at home, but didn’t provide further details on enforcement.