GSK's ViiV claims Gilead Sciences infringed on its patents

ViiV Healthcare, the global specialist HIV company majority-owned by GlaxoSmithKline, with Pfizer and Shionogi as shareholders, announced on Thursday that it has filed patent infringement litigation against Gilead Sciences over bictegravir in the United States and Canada.

The company said the United States case is filed in the US District Court for the District of Delaware and the patent was US patent number 8,129,385, while he Canadian case was filed in the Canadian Federal Court in Toronto with the patent being Canadian Patent number 2,606,282.

It said it would seek to prove that Gilead Sciences’ triple combination HIV drug, containing the HIV integrase inhibitor bictegravir, was infringing on ViiV Healthcare's patent covering dolutegravir and “many other compounds” that included dolutegravir's unique chemical scaffold.

“Intellectual property protections are critical for the life-sciences industry, allowing companies to make a return on their investment, which in turn enables research-based companies to put new funding into research and development,” ViiV Healthcare explained in a statement.

“It is this cycle which continues to result in the development of new and much needed treatments for people living with HIV.

“ViiV Healthcare will therefore seek financial redress for patent infringement.”