Merck claims hepatitis C patent win
A US court has upheld the validity of two patents owned by Merck in the pharmaceutical company’s dispute with drug maker Gilead centring on hepatitis C treatments.
The ruling, handed down at the US District Court for the Northern District of California, could see Merck awarded royalties from the drugs Harvoni (ledipasvir/sofosbuvir) and Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), produced by Gilead.
Merck previously claimed that the drugs’ active ingredient sofosbuvir infringed two of its patents covering related compounds and that it should be awarded royalties based on sales of the drugs.
Gilead claimed it should not be required to share any of the sales of the drugs. The trial stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Gilead in 2013 that claimed Merck’s patents were invalid.
Merck also recently began selling its own hepatitis C drug, Zepatier (elbasvir and grazoprevir).
Gilead claimed that the patent applications filed by Merck in 2002 were not specific enough to cover Gilead’s drugs.
In a ruling handed down on Tuesday, March 22, the court said the patents were valid.
