Loophole in Patent Law Brings ‘Miracle Drug’ to Patients Who Can’t Afford It; The New York Times, June 22, 2026

 Stephanie Nolen, The New York Times; Loophole in Patent Law Brings ‘Miracle Drug’ to Patients Who Can’t Afford It

A generic version of a breakthrough cystic fibrosis drug, manufactured in Bangladesh for a fraction of the American price, may give some families around the world an unlikely lifeline. 

"Now a Bangladeshi company has reverse engineered Trikafta and is using a loophole in global patent law to sell its version, called Triko, for a fraction of Vertex’s price.

Last week, the Lotterings joined a small group of other cystic fibrosis patients and their families who traveled to Dhaka to buy the first boxes of Triko that rolled off the production line of Beximco Pharmaceuticals.

Heather Nichols, a spokeswoman for Vertex, said that Trikafta is available in 75 countries — through sales or donations — and that the company provides it free in 15 countries; more than 7,000 people have received it at no charge.

But there are thousands more patients not covered by those programs, who have tried a variety of strategies to get the drug, including taking Vertex to court and petitioning their governments to allow a generic version of the drug to be imported or made locally, under a process known as compulsory licensing."

How a Drug Maker Profited by Slow-Walking a Promising H.I.V. Therapy; The New York Times, July 22, 2023

 Rebecca Robbins and Sheryl Gay Stolberg, The New York Times; How a Drug Maker Profited by Slow-Walking a Promising H.I.V. Therapy

"Gilead, one of the world’s largest drugmakers, appeared to be embracing a well-worn industry tactic: gaming the U.S. patent system to protect lucrative monopolies on best-selling drugs...

Gilead ended up introducing a version of the new treatment in 2015, nearly a decade after it might have become available if the company had not paused development in 2004. Its patents now extend until at least 2031.

The delayed release of the new treatment is now the subject of state and federal lawsuits in which some 26,000 patients who took Gilead’s older H.I.V. drugs claim that the company unnecessarily exposed them to kidney and bone problems."

Cheaper TB drugs for millions after global deal on patent rights agreed; The Guardian, July 18, 2023

Kaamil Ahmed, The Guardian ; Cheaper TB drugs for millions after global deal on patent rights agreed

"Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has struck a deal to allow generic versions of its tuberculosis drug to be supplied to low-income countries – but the deal has been criticised for not going far enough to end the company’s monopoly on global supplies of bedaquiline.

The global patent of the drug ends on Tuesday 18 July, but in a number of countries Johnson & Johnson continues to control the market with secondary patents – for which small modifications are made to a product to extend a patent.

J&J’s decision will allow the Stop TB Partnership coalition to procure and supply generic bedaquiline to 44 low- and middle-income countries through its Global Drug Facility (GDF)."