Russian firm seeks to produce COVID-19 drug without patent

Russian drugmaker Pharmasyntez has asked the Kremlin for permission to produce a generic version of U.S. firm Gilead Sciences’s COVID-19 treatment remdesivir without а patent, the Vedomosti newspaper reported on Monday.

Siberia-based Pharmasyntez previously approached Gilead requesting a voluntary licence to produce and distribute the drug in Russia, the company’s director, Vikram Punia, had told Reuters this year.

But it was not able to produce the drug as it is protected by a patent and Gilead did not respond to a request for a voluntary licence, Vedomosti reported, citing a letter sent by Punia to several Russian ministries.

The Russian firm has completed a clinical trial of the generic drug, labelled Remdeform, on 300 patients across 23 Russian hospitals, a register entry showed.

Gilead granted such permission to manufacture its drug to producers in 127 countries. These were predominantly low-income countries or those with other significant obstacles to healthcare access, Gilead has said.

In his letter, Punia asked Russia’s government to activate a compulsory licensing process, Vedomosti reported, in which the government to grants licences to produce patented products in Russia without the permission of the patent holder, in the interests of national security and defence.

Russia reported 18,257 new coronavirus cases on Monday, including 4,796 in Moscow, pushing the national tally to 1,655,038 since the pandemic began.

Authorities said 238 people had died in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 28,473.