GSK gives up Chinese patent on diabetes drug

British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline said today it was giving up a Chinese patent for a component of its popular diabetes drug Avandia following a challenge by three Chinese competitors.

The announcement in Beijing came six weeks after US-based Pfizer was stripped of a Chinese patent for its anti-impotence drug Viagra in a case that foreign businesses regarded as a test of China’s commitment to protecting intellectual property.