Gilead Sciences Inc. was rejected by the Chinese authorities amid its application for a patent for its Hepatitis C drug, called Sovaldi. The reported rejection could result in more rejections from other countries where Sovaldi patents are also challenged.

It was revealed that the Intellectual Property Office of China has rejected Gilead's application on Friday although there has no confirmation yet on its website.

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Gilead shares dropped marginally to $ 120.40 recently and there has been no comment from the Gilead spokesman after the rejection, reports Wall Street Journal.

The patent challenge came as both the public and private consumers complained that new Hepatitis C treatments are too expensive. Gilead priced Sovaldi at $1,000 per tablet which is $84,000 worth for a whole 12-week regimen in the U.S.

Gilead was planning to charge every patient in China from $2,000 to $15,000 for the 12-week regimen. Given that there is an estimated 29 million people in China suffering from hepatitis C, it would result in a revenue ranging from $58 billion to $435 billion, according to Los Angeles Times.

Patient advocates complained that countries that are in the middle-income range are home to some of the poorest people and may not be able to afford such.

Tahir Amin, the director of intellectual property at the Initiative of for Medicines, Access and knowledge, or IMAK, one of the several advocacy groups that filed the challenge, has stated, "This means there's a significant question mark about the inventiveness of this drug. Now, its patent protection is significantly weakened. The one patent that could block competitors coming to the market is now very vulnerable."

IMAK believes that this rejection will result to more rejections of patent applications in other countries as well. They have filed challenges also in Russia, Ukraine, Brazil and Argentina. They argued that Gilead does not use innovative technology since other drug manufacturers are able to develop drugs that are just as effective but less expensive, reports Benchmark Reporter.

For now, the legal battle over Sovaldi patents in China continues. Nonetheless, Amin maintains the rejection and hopes that it would eventually lead to less expensive generic drugs in China and other countries, since China is a large provider of pharmaceutical ingredients to companies all over the world.

"These companies could ship the ingredients if the other [Sovaldi] patent is eventually cleared in China," Amin says. "It would really put the cat amongst the pigeons."

TagsHepatitis C, drug, treatment