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).
However, in Monday’s ruling, a judge told the court in San Jose, California, that some of this evidence was not trustworthy, and she therefore annulled the jury’s verdict.
The case dates back to 2013 when the two American companies sued each other, claiming ownership of laboratory work on sofosbuvir, the active ingredient in the mega-selling Gilead drugs.
In a recent list, Harvoni topped a list showing the medicines which accounted for the highest cumulative spending by US patients in 2015.
This list showed that $14.3 billion was forked out for Harvoni last year, and Gilead’s total takings from the two pills in the USA alone from the last two years have reached $23 billion.
Analyzing the importance of this new judgement, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Asthika Goonewardene said: “This is a nice little bump for Gilead who’d already accounted for the $200 million. This will be beneficial to Gilead and how they can claim ownership of the drug in the long run.”
Merck has vowed to appeal against Monday’s ruling.
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).
However, in Monday’s ruling, a judge told the court in San Jose, California, that some of this evidence was not trustworthy, and she therefore annulled the jury’s verdict.
The case dates back to 2013 when the two American companies sued each other, claiming ownership of laboratory work on sofosbuvir, the active ingredient in the mega-selling Gilead drugs.
In a recent list, Harvoni topped a list showing the medicines which accounted for the highest cumulative spending by US patients in 2015.
This list showed that $14.3 billion was forked out for Harvoni last year, and Gilead’s total takings from the two pills in the USA alone from the last two years have reached $23 billion.
Analyzing the importance of this new judgement, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Asthika Goonewardene said: “This is a nice little bump for Gilead who’d already accounted for the $200 million. This will be beneficial to Gilead and how they can claim ownership of the drug in the long run.”
Merck has vowed to appeal against Monday’s ruling.
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