Gilead freed of having to pay Merck & Co $200 million in hep C patent dispute

7 June 2016

A judge in the USA has freed biotech major Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) from having to pay $200 million over allegedly infringing the hepatitis C patents of Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK).

This decision overturns an earlier federal jury verdict, which, based on findings that Merck’s patents were valid, led to Gilead being ordered to pay the sum to the pharma giant.

The March trial heard evidence that Merck was responsible for early discoveries which brought about the development of Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) and Harvoni (ledipasvir/sofosbuvir).

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Try before you buy

Free

7 day trial access

Take a Free Trial

All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.

Become a subscriber

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now

Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription

The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK