Gilead to Pay $246.75 Million To Settle Generics Delay Suit

After a lengthy legal battle, Gilead Sciences has agreed to pay out a staggering $246.75 million to customers who purchased the drugs Truvada or Atriplia, or any of the two drugs’ generic versions, during a period of about five years.

This news comes after a federal judge on Monday gave preliminary approval to the class action settlement between Gilead and KPH Health Services over allegations that the drug manufacturer used anti-competitive practices to slow the process of getting generic HIV meds to market.

Per the complaint submitted in 2019, Gilead was said to have charged ‘exorbitant’ prices for critical HIV drugs while simultaneously limiting the ability of generic versions to come to the market due to a supposed agreement with Teva promising to ‘delay marketing its generic products.’

Related: Gilead And Teva’s HIV Antitrust Trial Begins

In the trial held at the end of June, Gilead was ultimately victorious after the jury decided that the settlement between Teva and Gilead did not violate antitrust laws.

“This settlement is a significant victory for our customers,” said John Crinkley Jr., lead counsel for KPH. “Gilead’s actions forced customers to pay more for name-brand HIV drugs since the generic versions were not available and now these customers will finally be compensated for these practices.”

As per the terms of the agreement, Gilead will be making payments into a settlement fund to benefit the certified class of direct customers who purchased the drugs from Gilead, its affiliated entities, or a generic drug manufacturer from February 1, 2018 to the time of the class certification.

This means customers who purchased Truvada or Atriplia, or its generic versions, should expect to receive some of the $246.75 million being paid out by Gilead in the coming months.

Source: Court House News