Merck wins record US$2.5b patent verdict against Gilead
New York
GILEAD Sciences Inc - the biopharmaceutical giant with a market capitalisation of US$100 billion, which Singapore's Temasek Holdings owns 1.05 per cent of, was told by a US federal jury to pay US$2.54 billion to Merck & Co for using a patented invention as the basis for its blockbuster drugs for the potentially deadly liver disease hepatitis C. This is the biggest patent-infringement verdict in US history.
The jury in Wilmington, Delaware, deliberated for less than two hours and rejected Gilead's arguments that Merck's patent is invalid. The judge in the case had already decided that Merck's patent was infringed by Gilead's Sovaldi and Harvoni, which account for more than half of the drugmaker's revenue.
KEYWORDS IN THIS ARTICLE
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Companies & Markets
Japan may have spent 5.5 trillion yen on Apr 29 intervention, BOJ data suggests
3M to cut dividend on health-care spin, losing aristocrat status
OCBC should be seen as ‘financial conglomerate’ unlike local banking peers, says chairman
HSBC CEO to retire; bank reports 1.7% lower Q1 profit of US$10.8 billion
McDonald's sales miss estimates as customers cut back spending
Coca-Cola raises annual organic sales forecast on global demand, higher prices