Gilead chalks up another win in fake HIV meds lawsuit

Gilead Sciences' has won another victory in its ongoing legal battle over the alleged sale and distribution of falsified versions of its HIV medicines by pharmaceutical suppliers and distributors in the US.

The latest ruling in a complaint being heard in a New York court is a contempt motion against one of those accused – Yisel Lopez – that concludes that she is liable for violating the terms of an asset freeze order by entering into contracts to sell and mortgage property.

Lopez is referred to in court documents as the 'live-in girlfriend' of another defendant, Armando Herrera, who has been described as one of the kingpins of the scheme and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to introduce adulterated and misbranded drugs into interstate commerce last year.

According to court papers, Lopez "keeps significant assets from the criminal enterprise in her name" and is the owner of two companies whose assets included homes used by Herrera and his mother.

Gilead argued that three violations of the 2022 freeze order have already occurred, namely the sale of one property in Florida, the mortgaging of another, and contracting for the sale of her primary residence in the state.

The drugmaker wants to make sure that Lopez is not able to "dissipate the proceeds" and sidestep any financial penalties that may be forthcoming if the lawsuit goes its way.

Judge Joseph Marutollo concluded that Gilead has "sufficiently demonstrated" the violations and agreed with sanctions requested by the company, including the deposit of more than $400,000 into the court's escrow account.

The lawsuit dates back to 2021 and accuses Safe Chain Solutions and a string of other suppliers, distributors, and pharmacies of operating an HIV drug counterfeiting ring that sold Gilead bottles filled with different, potentially dangerous drugs accompanied by fake pedigrees – the records that purport to show the chain of all sales or transfers of a drug.

The complaint involves hundreds of millions of dollars worth of counterfeit HIV medications, and Gilead has been pursuing the alleged counterfeiters in a civil lawsuit over the past few years.