Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited Won't Sell Gilead Sciences, Inc. Generics Until June or Court Ruling

Teva Pharmaceuticals agreed to delay the introduction of generic versions of two Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) HIV drugs until June if a judge hasn’t ruled in its favor by then in a patent case brought by Gilead. U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan in Manhattan is set to begin a non-jury trial of Gilead’s patent-infringement lawsuit Feb. 20. If he doesn’t rule by June 1, Teva may begin to sell the drugs Truvada and Viread, according to an agreement between the two companies that was filed today in federal court. Gilead, based in Foster City, California, sued Teva in 2008 and again in 2010, claiming that Teva’s applications to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make drugs to treat HIV infections in adults infringed four of its patents. The complaints also listed the HIV drug Atripla, which wasn’t cited in today’s filing. Teva, based in Petach Tikva, Israel, said in court papers that Gilead’s patents were invalid and couldn’t be infringed.