Gilead Spars with Merck Over Royalties in $3 billion Hepatitis C Patent Dispute

摘要

Gilead Sciences Inc., which pioneered a cure for hepatitis C, is trying to fend off a demand by Merck & Co. for more than $3 billion in a patent dispute over the liver disease treatment (Gilead Sciences Inc. v. Merck & Co., No. 13-cv-04057, N.D. Cal., Jury trial, 3/7/16). A compound in Gilead's blockbuster drugs Sovaldi and Harvoni was found by a judge last month to have infringed Merck's patents. Now, a jury must decide whether those patents are still valid, and if so, how much Gilead owes Merck in royalties.