After nearly four years of litigation, Desmarais LLP clients ViiV Healthcare and Shionogi & Co. reached a settlement with Gilead Sciences in a global patent infringement case involving pharmaceutical drugs that treat HIV. Under the settlement, announced February 1, 2022, ViiV and Shionogi will receive a $1.25 billion upfront payment from Gilead and a 3% royalty payment on future U.S. sales of Gilead's triple-drug HIV therapy, Biktarvy.
ViiV, a global HIV specialist company that is majority-owned by GlaxoSmithKline, and Shionogi, filed the federal lawsuit in February 2018 in the District of Delaware. The case alleged Gilead’s drug Biktarvy infringed ViiV’s and Shionogi’s patent related to dolutegravir, an antiretroviral medication used in the treatment of HIV. ViiV and Shionogi subsequently filed patent infringement lawsuits in the U.K., France, Ireland, Germany, Japan, Korea, Australia, and Canada. Those cases will all terminate as a result of the settlement.
Desmarais LLP earned several courtroom victories throughout the litigation, including defeating both Gilead’s February 2020 motion to dismiss and August 2020 motion for summary judgment. The case was set for trial in January 2022 but was postponed until May due to a rise in coronavirus cases, during which time the settlement was reached.
“It was an honor for the firm to play a lead role in this historic case,” said John Desmarais, founding partner of Desmarais LLP.
Desmarais LLP attorneys who represented ViiV and Shionogi in the case include partners Paul Bondor, John Desmarais, Lindsey Miller, David Shaw, and Justin Wilcox and associates Michael Hilyard, Jordan Owens, Kyle Petrie, and Joze Welsh.
Law360 – “Gilead Pays Viiv $1.25B Plus Royalties To End HIV Patent Suit”
ALM/Law.com - "Desmarais and McCarter Guide Glaxo to $1.25 Billion Settlement with Gilead"
IAM - "GSK lands one of the biggest patent settlements of all time" (subscription required)
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