Gilead’s Truvada Defense Misunderstands Antitrust Law, FTC Says

The Federal Trade Commission says Gilead Sciences Inc. is on the wrong side of a key issue in a Northern District of California lawsuit claiming it schemed to maintain the market “stranglehold” enjoyed by its blockbuster HIV drug Truvada.

The proposed class action also targets Bristol-Myers Squibb Inc., Japan Tobacco Inc., and Johnson & Johnson. It accuses them of conspiring with Gilead to delay generic competition for the breakthrough drug, known generically as tenofovir. The case was consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Truvada, with sales exceeding $11 billion a year, ...