BRIEF—Merck & Co dealt blow in patent row with Gilead

US pharma giant Merck & Co has suffered a new setback in a long-running patent dispute with Californian biotech Gilead Sciences.

The US Appeals Court upheld an earlier ruling that had invalidated the $2.54 billion fine that Merck was due to receive following a 2016 case, when a jury found that Gilead had infringed its rival’s patent with the hepatitis C drugs Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) and Harvoni (sofosbuvir/ledipasvir).

The fine would have been the largest ever paid following a US patent dispute.