In addition to claims filed in federal court, Gilead faces about 24,000 TDF lawsuits in California state court, each raising similar allegations that the drug maker withheld a safer version of its HIV drugs.
California judges determined Truvada lawsuits, Atripla lawsuits, Stribild lawsits, Viread lawsuits and Complera lawsuits can be pursued by users who developed kidney damage, bone fractures and other side effects from the HIV drugs.
Researchers warn that the hypertension risks linked to Descovy appear to increase with the age of the patient.
Gilead claims it had no duty to develop safer TAF-based HIV drugs to replace its older TDF-based medications, including Truvada, Viread, Stribild and others, which have been linked to bone fractures, kidney injuries and other side effects.
Properly identifying patients at higher risk of transmission increases the benefits of prescribing certain HIV drugs as prophylactics, researchers determined.
This is the third antitrust trial victory for Gilead involving claims it participated in an Atripla and Truvada pay-to-delay generics scheme
Gilead failed adequately to warn users that its TDF-based HIV drugs could lead to bone demineralization, kidney disease and kidney damage, plaintiffs say.
The Gilead HIV drug lawsuit filed by the Justice Department claimed the drug maker violated patents held by the CDC for the use of Truvada and Descovy as preventative treatments.
Plaintiffs say they suffered bone demineralization, resulting in bone density loss and permanent injuries due to Gilead's marketing of a less safe formulation of the drugs in order to make more money.
Plaintiffs say kidney and bone injuries could have been avoided if Gilead had marketed its safer formulation to avoid the side effects of Atripla, Stribild and other HIV drugs.
