Gilead gets the better of US government in HIV patent row

10 May 2023

US biotech major Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) has prevailed in a legal battle with its country’s government over HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) patents.

The row was over who devised the idea of using Gilead’s emtricitabine/tenofovir, branded as Truvada and Descovy, for PrEP, with the government alleging that the company infringed three of its patents in doing so, and making billions in profits in the process.

The Trump administration sued Gilead over the issue in 2019. The government, which had been seeking more than $1 billion in damages, was supported by activists calling for it to more aggressively assert its financial and legal rights to medicines developed with the help of public funding, according to The New York Times.

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