Gilead, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Merck infectious news
A jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ordered Gilead to pay $200 million in damages as compensation for infringing upon patents owned by Ionis and Merck covering HCV treatments. The jury upheld the validity of U.S. Patents Nos. 7,105,499 and 8,481,712, which cover nucleoside analogs inhibitors of RNA viral polymerase. Merck and Ionis are both listed as assignees on the two patents. Gilead filed suit in 2013 seeking a declaratory judgment that its HCV treatment Sovaldi sofosbuvir did not infringe the ‘499 and ‘712 patents. In February, the court granted summary judgment that the patents are infringed by the sale of Gilead’s Sovaldi and Harvoni ledipasvir/sofosbuvir (see BioCentury, Sept. 9, 2013).
Merck said the damages cover infringement through 2015 and that the court will hold a separate proceeding on royalties owed by Gilead for the sale of products starting Jan. 1. Merck and Ionis had proposed a 10% royalty rate. Ionis said it is to receive 20% of the damages awarded to Merck, including future payments and excluding litigation costs. In a statement, Gilead said “there are a number of remaining issues to be decided by the jury and the judge.” A bench trial is scheduled to begin on March 29 to address equitable defenses asserted by Gilead. ...