Unveiling patenting strategies of therapeutics and vaccines: evergreening in the context of COVID-19 pandemic

In the pharmaceutical sector, evergreening is considered a range of practices applied to extend monopoly protection on existing products. Filing several patent applications related to the same active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) is one of the most common manifestations of evergreening. During the COVID-19 pandemic, several health technologies were developed. This study aimed to analyze the extension of evergreening for selected health technologies for SARS-CoV-2 through patent filing strategies. Starting with the selection of three antivirals, one biological and two vaccines, a patent landscape was built based on public and private databases. Regarding these selected technologies, we analyzed some of the evergreening strategies used by different applicants, academic institutions or pharmaceutical companies and found a total of 29 applications (10 after the pandemic) for antivirals, 3 applications for a biological drug (1 after the pandemic), and 41 applications for vaccines (23 after the pandemic). Despite differences among the technologies, a common aspect found in all analyzed cases is the intense patent filing after the pandemic, aligned to the fact that those technologies were moving through the R&D process up to regulatory approval. The evergreening approach pursued has already been found in other diseases, with the risk of monopoly extension and also bringing legal uncertainty due to the lack of transparency of newer patent applications covering specific medical indications. Therefore, efforts to address evergreening should be pursued by countries, including the adoption of a public health approach to the patent examination of those technologies to prevent the granting of undeserved patents

Factors Associated with HIV Status Disclosure to Ones Steady Sexual Partner in PLHIV in Morocco

International audienceThe objective of the present study was todetermine the factors independently associated with disclosureof seropositivity to one’s steady sexual partner inpeople living with HIV (PLHIV) who are recipients ofservices provided by Association de Lutte Contre le Sida, aMoroccan community-based organization (CBO) workingon AIDS response. Between May and October 2011, 300PLHIV were interviewed about their sociodemographicand economic characteristics, their sexual life and disclosureof their serostatus to their friends, family and to theirsteady sexual partner. A weighted logistic regression wasused to study factors associated with serostatus disclosureto one’s steady sexual partner. We restricted the analysis topeople who declared they had a steady sexual partner(n = 124). Median age was 36 years old, 56 % were menand 62 % declared that they had disclosed their serostatusto their steady sexual partner. The following factors wereindependently associated with disclosure: living with one’ssteady sexual partner [OR 95 % CI: 9.85 (2.86–33.98)],having a higher living-standard index [2.06 (1.14–3.72)],regularly discussing HIV with friends [6.54 (1.07–39.77)]and CBO members [4.44 (1.27–15.53)], and having ahigher social exclusion score [1.24 (1.07–1.44)]. Unemployment(as opposed to being a housewife) was negativelyassociated with disclosure [0.12 (0.02–0.87)]. Despite thepotential positive effects for the prevention of HIV transmissionand for adherence to HIV treatment, many PLHIVhad not disclosed their serostatus to their steady sexualpartner. Some factors shown here to be significantly associatedwith such disclosure will help in the development offuture support interventions