INDIA GRANTS PFIZER PATENT FOR PNEUMONIA VACCINE

NEWDELHI: India has granted US pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. a patent for its pneumonia vaccine Prevanar 13, in spite of opposition from the health group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The non-profit group had filed a “patent opposition” to prevent Pfizer from getting a patent on its pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV 13). India has the world’s highest number of pneumonia and diarrhoea deaths among children. Pneumonia and diarrhoea claimed more than 300,000 children in 2013 in India, according to a 2014 report by Unicef. “We are pleased to note that the validity of the Prevenar 13 patent has now been recognized by the Indian Patent Office,” a Pfizer spokesperson said.