Gilead Sciences has sued Merck & Co. to defend its control of sofosbuvir, a late-stage experimental drug for the hepatitis C virus (HCV), FierceBiotech reports. The suit is in response to Merck contacting Gilead to claim 10 percent of the revenue to be generated by sofosbuvir, which trials have shown offers a hep C treatment that is faster and less likely to trigger side effects. Merck—which sells Victrelis (boceprevir), a therapy that will likely face heavy competition from sofosbuvir—is seeking the royalty based on two patents that it wants Gilead to sublicense. Gilead previously was challenged over control of sofosbuvir by Roche, which claims rights based on its previous partnership with Pharmasett. Gilead bought Pharmasett for $11 billion to take control of sofosbuvir

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