The U.S. government asked a federal judge to overturn a recent case in which a jury decided that Gilead Sciences did not infringe on patents held by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for a pair of groundbreaking HIV pills.
In a lawsuit, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services argued the CDC helped fund academic research into HIV prevention that later formed the basis for the pills, and that Gilead overstated its role in developing the treatments. HHS, which sought up to $1 billion in royalties, also contended that the company refused to reach a licensing agreement, even as it booked $10 billion in sales.
For its part, Gilead maintained that it invented the pills — an older one called Truvada and a newer, upgraded version called Descovy — and that the concept of using Truvada to prevent HIV was well-known by the time the government tried to obtain its patents. Moreover, the drug company insisted that it acted in good faith during its negotiations with the government.