GlaxoSmithKline Plc has withdrawn its patent application in India for anti-AIDS drug Combivir, which has been facing opposition from activists.
"GSK, like any research-oriented company believes in protecting its patent. It reviews its patent applications as a routine matter and the parent company has withdrawn its application for Combivir in India," GSK spokesperson N Y Sanglikar told PTI from Mumbai.
He, however, refuted the claims that the company had withdrawn the application under pressure from activists, who had challenged the company's patent over the drug at the Kolkata patent office.
"Making patent application and reviewing it is a routine matter undertaken by the company," he said.
The company had filed the patent application for Combivir, which is a combination of Epivir and Retrovir, nearly eight years back.
However, the Indian Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS and the Manipur Network of Positive People had filed a pre-grant opposition at the Kolkata patent office stating the drug was not a new invention.
Combivir is a widely-used fixed dose combination and used preferably in projects run by several international organisations.
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