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After more than a year of controversy, the federal government filed a lawsuit accusing Gilead Sciences (GILD) of infringing patents on a pair of HIV prevention pills and unfairly reaping hundreds of millions of dollars from research funded by taxpayers.

The patents are held by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which helped fund academic research into HIV prevention that later formed the basis for a pair of pills — Truvada and Descovy — that are sold by the drug maker. The Department of Health and Human Services contended that Gilead refused to reach a licensing agreement despite “multiple attempts” at reaching a deal. “Gilead’s conduct was malicious, wanton, deliberate, consciously wrongful, flagrant, and in bad faith,” the suit states.

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“HHS recognizes Gilead’s role in selling Truvada and Descovy to patients for prevention of HIV. Communities have put these drugs to use in saving lives and reducing the spread of HIV,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement Wednesday. “However, Gilead must respect the U.S. patent system, the groundbreaking work by CDC researchers, and the substantial taxpayer contributions to the development of these drugs. The complaint filed today seeks to ensure that they do.”

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