Dr. Yusuf Hamied is the chair of Cipla, the Indian generic drug manufacturer
Hamied: We are definitely going to produce, and are producing already, zanamavir as an alternative. That is the inhaled product of Biota in Australia, which was licensed to GlaxoSmithKline.
MM: They are not complaining about your production?
Hamied: They cannot, because the product was patented in 1993. The patent for that does not count in India.
MM: Is it correct that GlaxoSmithKline said that even where they claim a patent, they will not try to enforce it?
Hamied: I have no idea.
It is not their patent. It is a patent of Biota in Australia. Glaxo pays them a royalty.
Like oseltamivir is not a patent of Roche, it is a patent of Gilead. Roche is paying Gilead a royalty, and I am also prepared to pay a royalty on valid patents, so what is the big deal?