Gilead v Merck hepatitis C dispute rocked by new allegation

A judge assessing a patent dispute between Merck and Gilead centring on hepatitis C treatments has allowed Gilead to submit new evidence of jurors allegedly being misled.

Gilead was told to pay Merck $200 million in damages for infringement earlier this year.

The news comes after Gilead claimed that Philippe Durette, a former Merck scientist, allegedly lied under oath in the dispute, which centres on Gilead’s drugs Harvoni (ledipasvir/sofosbuvir) and Sovaldi (sofosbuvir).

According to Gilead, Durette misled jurors surrounding patents obtained for Merck covering the sofosbuvir compound, which is used to treat hepatitis C.

Gilead said Durette relied on an earlier patent developed by another drug maker, Pharmasset, before that company was acquired by Gilead in 2011, and did not make the discoveries through his own research.

In 2013, Gilead sued Merck at the US District Court for the Northern District of California. It said two Merck-owned patents, which centre on the sofosbuvir compound, should be declared invalid. Gilead said that the patents were not specific enough to cover its drugs.

Merck, which filed a counterclaim of infringement, had demanded $2 billion in damages and royalties related to sales, but was awarded $200 million in March this year.

Both sides had until yesterday, May 2, to submit more arguments in the case.