Merck and Ionis Pharmaceuticals awarded $200 million for infringement of Hep C drug patents
Jury’s verdict upholds patent protections that are essential to the development of new medical treatments.
Merck (MSD) has announced that a jury in the United States District Court Northern District of California ordered Gilead Sciences to pay $200 million in damages for infringing upon Merck and Ionis Pharmaceuticals patents for compounds and methods used to develop sofosbuvir-based medicines for the treatment of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, including Sovaldi and Harvoni.
The jury’s verdict upholds patent protections that are essential to the development of new medical treatments. Given that it guarantees a firm a period of return on investment, patent protection provides the research-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries with an incentive to invest in research and development.
The compounds and methods at issue in this case facilitated significant advances in the treatment of patients with HCV infection and were appropriately granted the patents Nos. 7,105,499 and 8,481,712. Achieving these advancements required many years of research and significant investment by Merck and its partners.
The jury awarded the damages as compensation for infringement through 31 December 2015. The Court will hold a separate proceeding on royalties owed by Gilead for all infringing product sold starting 1 January 2016.
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