Opinion by Christopher Morten et al in STAT News 12 Deb 2025
On Dec. 19, 2024, we joined other professors of law, medicine, and public health to file an amicus brief in support of the U.S. government in the government’s landmark patent lawsuit against leading HIV drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc. On Jan. 15, 2025, the U.S. government and Gilead announced a settlement of the suit that — at least based on what’s been made public — allows Gilead to expropriate publicly funded, publicly owned patents essentially without recourse. Unless the Department of Health and Human Services commits to asserting its patent rights vigorously in the future on behalf of the public, this settlement could disturb the model of public-private partnership that sustains many of the United States’ most important medical breakthroughs. Gilead’s short-term win could come at massive cost to the future of pharmaceutical innovation and to the health of the American public. … Early actions of the second Trump administration now threaten greater disruptions to the country’s health and research ecosystems. Indeed, they threaten horrific chaos. If the Trump administration is interested in truly disrupting the status quo to Americans’ benefit, it should focus on the lessons of United States v. Gilead — on disrupting the privatization of public knowledge. The American people deserve a better deal with the companies that benefit from publicly funded research. We hope that HHS’s leadership will recognize the immense benefits not just of government research but of vigorous oversight of the companies that exploit that research.
Original post here (firewalled)
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