The pharmaceutical mega-corporation Gilead says it has broken up a network of drug distributors trafficking in fake HIV meds.
The company said that, acting with court orders, it had seized 85,247 bottles of faked medications from 17 locations in nine states. Washington state was not included.
The counterfeit meds included versions of its new Biktarvy and Descovy treatments. Reuters reports that the retail value of the fake meds amounts to more than $250 million.
The action results from a lawsuit Gilead filed under seal last August, naming 22 defendants. Gilead's suit charges them with violating federal trademark and New York state consumer protection laws and distributing "dangerous" counterfeits to "unsuspecting patients, placing the patients' health and lives at risk."
Gilead says it believes that it has prevented further distribution of the fake drugs, and that there should be no further risk to patients.
Lori Mayall, Gilead's top anti-counterfeiting executive, said the presiding judge in its lawsuit ordered the defendant distributors to stop selling Gilead-branded medications, and the company was unaware of any defendant violating that order.
"We therefore believe that we have successfully stopped any additional counterfeits from these defendants reaching patients," Mayall said in a statement.
According to Reuters, counterfeiters used authentic, but often empty or near-empty, bottles that once contained its HIV medications. The counterfeiters then substituted fake tablets and documentation and resealed the bottles so they would "resemble" unopened, authentic bottles.
Among the substitute medications was an anti-psychotic drug that often causes drowsiness, where tablets were six times more potent than the US Food and Drug Administration recommended.
Gilead said that said one patient who unknowingly took that drug after receiving a fake bottle of Biktarvy reported being unable to speak or walk afterwards.
Gilead disclosed its anti-counterfeiting efforts on the same day a federal judge in Brooklyn unsealed a related civil lawsuit that the Foster City, California–based company filed last July.
Among other remedies, the lawsuit asks for the seizure of counterfeit drugs, in addition to court-ordered seizures that have already occurred.
Global sales of Gilead's HIV treatments totaled $4.19 billion in the quarter ending September 30, 2021, including $2.71 billion of Biktarvy and Descovy.