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Gilead sues Teva over Truvada

By Lawrence B. Ebert, Esq.

In 2005, IPBiz discussed Emory University, Emtriva, and Truvada. Long before patent auctions became trendy, Emory University auctioned off patent rights to the highest bidder. Thus, before "middle men" such as Ocean Tomo and Ron Laurie of Inflexion Point Analytics, LLC, patent holders were identifying potential licensees and doing competitive bidding.

As background-->

Emory initiated the process in January as part of the university's efforts to make new, focused investments in its own
research programs. A competitive bidding process drove up the price of the Emtriva royalties, which Emory has held since
three of its scientists, Dennis Liotta, Raymond Schinazi and Woo-Baeg Choi, invented emtricitabine. Liotta and Schinazi
began their work in AIDS in the mid-1980s when they established the first HIV laboratory at Emory.

Emtricitabine moved away from that laboratory in 1996, when Durham, N.C.-based Triangle Pharmaceuticals Inc. licensed
the product. Gilead acquired Triangle in early 2003, and received approval of Emtriva later that year for HIV infection in
combination with other antiretroviral agents. [from AHC Media]

The latest development is that Gilead has sued Teva in a Hatch-Waxman action. Bizjournals reported:

Foster City-based Gilead said the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in New York on Dec. 12, centers on patents associated with emtricitabine, a component of Truvada and licensed exclusively to Gilead by Emory University.

Truvada is indicated in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults.

Full post as published by IPBiz on December 13, 2008 (boomark / email).