"Doctors challenge hepatitis C drug patent in price protest"

Doctors in France [via the NGO Médecins du Monde] are challenging the patent of a new and highly expensive drug for hepatitis C [Sofosbuvir] in an attempt to bring down the price [$1,000 a pill for a 10-week course]...The drug, made by...Gilead, is a cure for the viral infection that can lead to liver cirrhosis, cancer and death. Even for affluent countries the bill is huge...[Between] 130 million and 150 million people are estimated to be infected [globally], according to the World Health Organisation.

[For Gilead Sciences' position on pricing, see "Gilead's Efforts to Ensure Patient Access to Sovaldi for Chronic Hepatitis C"]