AIDS Group Sues Gilead Over HIV Patents

One week after accusing Gilead Sciences of promoting an HIV drug off-label, an AIDS nonprofit is suing the company for allegedly “manipulating the patent system” to unnaturally extend the life of another medication.

In a three-count lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation accuses Gilead of selling a critical HIV medication — tenofovir alafenamide, commonly referred to as TAF — only in combination with ingredients that have viable patents, allegedly to fend off potential generic competitors.

For a legal challenge to be successful, all patents for the combination drug would need to be declared invalid. The suit notes that of all of Gilead’s HIV products, TAF is in only one of them — Genvoya — which combines TAF with elvitegravir, cobicistat and emtricitabine.

In response to a request for comment on both topics, a Gilead spokeswoman said only that the company’s patent for TAF is “valid and enforceable.”