Gilead wins $31.8m damages in falsified meds case

Pharma company Gilead Sciences has been awarded a massive $31.8 million in damages in connection with a lawsuit claiming falsification of its HIV medicines.

The defendant in the lawsuit – Lorik Papyan – was sentenced for unlicensed wholesale distribution of prescription drugs in September.

According to prosecutors, the amount should be paid in restitution to Gilead for profits lost by the drugmaker as a result of the actions of a scheme in which Papyan and co-conspirators acquired HIV medication pills from HIV-positive patients in the Los Angeles area, repackaged the pills – alongside over-the-counter analgesics, candy, and other drugs – into new bottles.

Those involved in the so-called 'Mainspring' scheme then forged pedigrees to identify the medications as authentic and FDA-approved Gilead products and sold them to a wholesaler named Scripts Wholesale Inc. It is estimated that Scripts Wholesale bought nearly 17,000 bottles of falsified Gilead drugs from the conspirators.

"Having helped repackage the drugs, Papyan played a direct role in depriving Gilead of profits that it otherwise would have made," writes Judge Richard Seeborg in the order.

"To be clear, the primary victims in this case are HIV-positive patients – those whom Papyan and his co-conspirators convinced to sell their life-saving drugs rather than take them, as well as those who purchased the Mainspring products through Scripts without knowing that they were buying non-FDA approved counterfeits," he continues.

Falsified medicines sometimes contain no active ingredients at all, actives in the incorrect dose, or other ingredients than those on the label, and they may contain contaminants and hazardous substances.

In the case of HIV therapies, taking falsified medicines can raise the risk that virus levels will not be kept under control and could develop resistance, leading to treatment failure.

It is the latest development in a long-running legal saga involving the falsification of Gilead medicines by a network of conspirators, which has resulted in multiple lawsuits being filed against individuals and organisations accused of involvement in the activity over the last few years, along with several convictions.