The University of Minnesota is suing Gilead Sciences, alleging the Foster City, Calif.-based pharmaceutical company's hepatitis C drugs Sovaldi and Harvoni infringe on a university patent, according to the San Francisco Business Times.
The patent at the center of the lawsuit is based on research by a professor in the University of Minnesota's college of pharmacy. The university claims its intellectual property covers Gilead drugs that contain sofosbuvir, including the company's two hepatitis C drugs Harvoni and Sovaldi. Those two drugs have generated $20 billion in revenue for Gilead, according to the report.
Gilead disputed the university's allegations. "We believe the University of Minnesota's patent is invalid and is not infringed by the sale of Gilead's medicines for chronic hepatitis C," Gilead said in a prepared statement.
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