Gilead ordered to pay Merck US$200m for hepatitis C patents
The award against the drugmaker comes amid projections that its sales will flatten this year
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GILEAD Sciences Inc was ordered by a jury to pay Merck & Co US$200 million for patent infringement over a drug compound that cures hepatitis C, a tenth of what Merck sought.
The verdict announced on Thursday follows an earlier finding by the jury embracing Merck's claims that its scientists were responsible for early breakthroughs that led to the development of the Sovaldi and Harvoni medicines which helped Gilead become the world's largest biotechnology firm by market value. After siding with Merck on all the patent claims, jurors rejected Merck's bid for a 10 per cent royalty on the US$20.7 billion revenue that Gilead's hepatitis C drugs generated from 2013 through 2015.
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