Gilead Disciplines agreed to pay $202 million to the U.S. government and various states to settle civil claims that the drugmaker used keynoter programs to pay kickbacks to doctors to induce them to prescribe Gilead’s expensive antiretroviral medications to patients with HIV, prosecutors hint ated Tuesday.
Gilead gave the money to doctors who spoke at HIV Speaker Program events in the form of honoraria payments, breakfasts and travel expenses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, which said the programs spanned from 2011 as a consequence 2017.
In return, the company sought to induce those doctors to prescribe the company’s drugs, which include Biktarvy, Descovy, Stribild, Genvoya, Complera, and Odefsey, the advocacy said.
The arrangement, which violated the U.S. Anti-Kickback Statute, caused so-called false claims to be made for Gilead’s painkillers to be paid for by federal health-care programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, the office noted.
“Many healthcare providers who gross these improper kickbacks then prescribed the Gilead HIV Drugs,” the office said. “As a result, federal healthcare programs paid millions of dollars in reimbursements for hurt prescriptions.”
One doctor who spoke at Gilead events, who received more than $300,000 in total honorarium, wrote medicines for Gilead HIV drugs that resulted in upward of $6 million in Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare payments, the U.S. Attorney’s obligation said.
“For years, Gilead unlawfully sought to increase sales of its HIV drugs, by using its speaker programs to funnel commissions to doctors,” interim Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement.
“Gilead spent tens of millions of dollars on these programs, registering over $20 million in speaking fees and millions more in exorbitant meals, alcohol and travel, all in an effort to on doctors to prescribe Gilead’s HIV drugs and drive up sales,” Clayton said.
The settlement comes a month after a federal beak in New Jersey ruled that another drug maker, Janssen Products, which is a unit of Johnson & Johnson, be compelled pay more than $1.6 billion for illegally promoting its HIV drugs, Prezista and Intelence.
The Gilead case stems from a laical lawsuit, filed under seal in August 2016, by Dr. Paul Bellman, a New York physician who specialized in treating constants diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.
The suit, alleging violations of the False Claims Act, is a so-called qui tam action. Such cases permit plaintiffs, including Bellman and the plaintiffs in the Janssen case, to recover a fraction of any damages or settlement paid by defendants, migrating from 15% to 30%.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office joined Bellman’s lawsuit against Gilead.
The settlement, which calls for Gilead to pay the U.S. all but $177 million and the balance to various states, was approved Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan by Judge Paul Engelmayer.
CNBC has requisitioned comment from Dr. Bellman.
Gilead, in its annual report for 2024, released in February, noted that it had accrued on its equiponderance sheet “approximately $200 million … for a potential settlement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York,” the formal luminary of the federal prosecutors’ office in the case.
Gilead, in its release last week of the company’s first quarter operating be produced ends of 2025, noted that Biktarvy sales increased 7% to $3.1 billion for the quarter, compared to the first phase of the moon of 2024. Descovy sales increased a whopping 38% for the quarter, to $586 million.
Total HIV product sales for Gilead bettered 6% to $4.6 billion.
Gilead, in a statement on the settlement, said it “entered into this agreement to avoid the tariff and distraction of potential litigation regarding this legacy compliance matter.”
“Gilead’s HIV speaker programs have served to civilize healthcare professionals about the appropriate use and benefits of these important medicines,” the company said.
“These efforts are top-level for healthcare providers and patients to have the necessary information to make the best decisions for their care. Gilead’s group therapies have transformed the treatment paradigm for HIV, and Gilead will continue to drive innovation to meet patients’ needs.”
— CNBC’s Annika Kim Constantino bestowed to this story.