shutterstock_1641369829_ascannio
Ascannio / Shutterstock.com
22 September 2020AmericasMuireann Bolger

Gilead accused of illegally paying to delay HIV drug competition

Biopharmaceutical company Gilead is being sued for allegedly scheming to prevent a generic rival from releasing a competing version of its HIV drug Truvada, according to a class action lawsuit filed by investors in the drug manufacturer.

The suit filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on September 17, contained allegations by the Jacksonville Police Officers and Fire Fighters Health Insurance Trust, a health insurance trust organised under the laws of the State of Florida.

According to the lawsuit, the trust claimed that Gilead provided Cipla with an “unexplained payment”, so it would not market a generic version of Truvada, offering them instead a licence to produce a lesser known HIV drug, Atripla, or a licence to produce Hepatitis C drugs in India.

In addition to its role as an HIV treatment, the FDA approved Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV infection in adults at high risk in 2012. Truvada is the only drug approved for PrEP in the US.

The suit stated that “over the years, Gilead Sciences...has employed several unlawful strategies to stave off competition for its HIV medications”, and that “Gilead’s agreement with Cipla kept the price of Truvada at anticompetitive levels and harmed the health plans that pay for this drug on behalf of their members”.

According to the complaint, this unlawful approach has allowed Gilead to continue selling  Truvada at a high price, and that the trust has been forced to spend approximately $15,000 on Truvada for the benefit of its members since the beginning of 2020.

Gilead has been the subject of a number of claims, accusing the company of resorting to unscrupulous tactics to stave off competition for its flagship product.

Earlier this year, Gilead and its alleged co-conspirators Bristol-Myers Squibb, Japan Tobacco, and Johnson & Johnson  were accused of engaging in a long-running scheme to suppress competition in the market for HIV prevention therapies.

A Medicare recovery specialist, MSP Recovery Claims, sued the companies at the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, claiming that Gilead had entered into collusive and illegal horizontal agreements with its co-conspirators to block competition against Truvada.

LSIPR has approached Gilead for comment.

Did you enjoy reading this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories sent like this straight to your inbox.


More on this story

Americas
22 August 2019   Gilead Sciences, the maker of HIV drug Truvada, has asked the US Patent and Trademark Office to review patents granted to the government covering preventative use of the drug.
Americas
4 November 2020   Gilead Sciences has claimed that a group of Florida-based healthcare clinics, pharmacies, and lab testing facilities have “wrongfully captured tens of millions of dollars” through a fraudulent programme.
Americas
23 August 2022   Class-action alleges pharma company blocked rival HIV drug | Health insurance trust convinces judge a reverse payment may have been made.

More on this story

Americas
22 August 2019   Gilead Sciences, the maker of HIV drug Truvada, has asked the US Patent and Trademark Office to review patents granted to the government covering preventative use of the drug.
Americas
4 November 2020   Gilead Sciences has claimed that a group of Florida-based healthcare clinics, pharmacies, and lab testing facilities have “wrongfully captured tens of millions of dollars” through a fraudulent programme.
Americas
23 August 2022   Class-action alleges pharma company blocked rival HIV drug | Health insurance trust convinces judge a reverse payment may have been made.