Law Firms Speaking Out For The Thousands of California HIV Patients They Represent After Gilead's $40 Million Settlement Prompts Moral Reckoning for the HIV Community

/EIN News/ -- Grant & Eisenhofer, Jenner Law, Burg Simpson, and The Lawrence Law Firm are jointly issuing the following public statement following Gilead’s June 4th press release reported in the San Francisco Chronicle

SAN FRANCISCO, June 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a recent press release (reported in The San Francisco Chronicle on June 4^th), California pharma giant Gilead touts a $40 million settlement to resolve the lawsuits of approximately 2,625 plaintiffs. At the same time, it brushes off its culpability for delaying potentially life-saving treatments that should have been made available to patients living with HIV/AIDS but for Gilead’s greed. Despite its assertations that the settlement was simply effected to avoid “distraction,” the internal documents unearthed during a parallel litigation (Gilead Tenofovir Cases (Judicial Council Coordination Proceeding (JCCP) No. 5043) in California state court, which have been made public by The New York Times, reveal a disturbing truth: Gilead knowingly prioritized profits over the well-being of millions of individuals living with HIV.

Gilead’s self-serving claim that it has always worked to improve the lives of HIV patients is contradicted by its decision to pause the development of tenofovir alafenamide (TAF), a life-saving drug with few side effects, in favor of maintaining sales of its existing drug, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), which Gilead itself acknowledges causes serious kidney and bone damage. This decision wasn’t driven by concerns over efficacy or safety; it was purely motivated by financial gain. In fact, at an internal April 17, 2003 meeting (see attached), Gilead’s Development Committee, the group that decides which drugs to develop, decided to stop TAF’s development “due to the likelihood that [it] would ultimately cannibalize Viread [TDF] regardless of its efficacy and safety profile. One reason for continuing/restarting development would be to obtain patent extension.”

After a detailed financial analysis (see attached) of its options, Gilead concluded that delaying the release of TAF would result in a several-billion-dollar windfall in added revenue and profit. Clearly, Gilead’s decision, to stop commercial development of TAF some 14 months before it announced it, was based not on safety, but its recognition that were the company to develop it on the original timeline, it would cut into its sales. But, by delaying its release until shortly before its TDF market exclusivity period expired, Gilead could generate billions more in revenue and income. This is hardly the humanitarian act of compassion designed “to improve the lives” of the HIV affected community that Gilead touts.

This revelation reflects not just an ethical lapse or a pure ‘business judgment’; it reflects a moral failure of monumental proportions. By prioritizing profits over the health and well-being of HIV patients in California and beyond, Gilead has betrayed the trust of the very community it claims to serve. While Gilead raked in billions in profits, countless people living with HIV were denied access to its demonstrably superior treatment options and suffered dire consequences as a result. Its contentions otherwise – and lauding a settlement that provides less than $15,000 on average to HIV patients who suffer from renal failure, debilitating bone loss and even death – are the definition of hubris and greed.

Gilead’s attempt to downplay its well-documented misconduct is insulting to the HIV community and all those affected by the company’s actions. The settlement touted by Gilead should be viewed against the backdrop of the billions in profits Gilead has reaped by exploiting its monopoly over HIV treatments. Gilead’s TAF-delay strategy also proved to be immensely profitable for its top executives as well. Gilead’s former CFO, (and later CEO), who was a key player in the decision to delay TAF, amassed over $700 million in sales of Gilead stock.

It is well past time for Gilead to be held accountable both in the courtroom and in the court of public opinion. The HIV community deserves transparency, accountability, and justice. Gilead must acknowledge its wrongdoing, compensate all those harmed by its actions fairly, and commit to prioritizing patient health over profits in the future.

Jointly written by following attorneys whose firms collectively represent thousands of plaintiffs in the above-referenced state litigation:

M. Elizabeth (“Beth”) Graham, Esq. / egraham@gelaw.com / 415-710-7973
Grant & Eisenhofer, P.A., San Francisco, CA

Robert K. Jenner, Esq. / rjenner@jennerlawfirm.com/ 410-413-2155
JENNER LAW, Baltimore, Maryland

Seth A. Katz, Esq./ skatz@burgsimpson.com / 303-792-5595
BURG SIMPSON, Englewood, CO

Jeffrey W. Lawrence, Esq./ jeffreyl@jlawrencelaw.com / 415-685-5030
The Lawrence Law Firm, San Francisco, CA

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