HHS is taking Gilead to court, seeking damages for infringing government HIV patents
Gilead earlier this year fired an opening salvo by marching to the US Patent and Trademark Office and requesting a review of the validity of the patents for HIV preventative treatment or PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) granted to the HHS since 2015. On Wednesday, the tactic blew up as the US government retorted by filing a patent infringement lawsuit against the California drugmaker.
The suit, filed on behalf of the HHS, alleges that Gilead deliberately violated CDC’s patents, and profited from research funded by million’s of taxpayer dollars and has reaped billions from the sale of its therapies — Truvada and Descovy — as PrEP treatments. The HHS has also claimed that the US drugmaker repeatedly refused to license the patents.
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