Gilead claims $250 million in counterfeit HIV drugs flowed into U.S. market in 2 years

According to a report released by Gilead recently, up to $250 million of counterfeit HIV drugs Biktarvy and Descovy were sold to American consumers in major pharmacies in the United States in the past two years
.

Distributors suspected of illegally selling counterfeit HIV drugs sold a total of 85,247 vials in two years, according to the company, and Gilead has filed a lawsuit against the distributors who distributed the counterfeit drugs

In August 2021, the company said that unauthorized distributors were selling counterfeit drugs to pharmacies, tampering with original Gilead bottles and filling them with counterfeit drugs
.

A Gilead spokesman said that after learning that counterfeit HIV drugs were distributed and sold, Gilead immediately notified federal law enforcement agencies, including the U.

Many counterfeit medicines are obtained from homeless or drug-addicted HIV patients and then resold with falsified documents
.

The counterfeit medicines sold by the companies included false documentation, as well as altered packaging, and in some cases, the original drug in the bottle was replaced with an over-the-counter pain reliever or antipsychotic instead of HIV medication

Ironically, the Wall Street Journal still firmly claims that the U.
S.
drug supply chain is considered one of the safest in the world, and the media firmly believes that if any counterfeit drugs do make it to the U.
S.
market, it must usually be through an online pharmacy Or smuggled across the US-Mexico border
.

However, in fact, a large number of counterfeiters can directly find a large number of loopholes in this so-called world's safest supply chain through secondary wholesale distributors in the United States.

The lawsuit was first filed last July, but just last week a judge chose to unblock the case after a judge asked Gilead why it had kept it secret for so long, and Gilead said the company had no objection to unblocking it
.

Gilead conducted a private investigation and cooperated with federal and local law enforcement agencies to seize the defendants' offices and warehouses, according to the documents

Gilead Sciences, Biktarvy and Descovy, both approved to treat HIV, and Descovy, also approved to prevent infection, are expected to have sales of $10.
2 billion in 2021
.

Biktarvy was approved by the U.

Gilead reported that the company first detected HIV counterfeit products in August 2020 after a corresponding incident was reported by White Cross Pharmacy in Brawley, California
.

A customer told the pharmacy that the bottle of Biktarvy he bought contained cold medicine, not HIV medicine, and the pharmacy is believed to have used Biktarvy bottles to fill other medicines

In the face of a large number of HIV counterfeit products on the market, Gilead issued a public warning on its website in August 2021, saying that in the current U.
S.
market, a large number of Gilead brand drug distributors who are not authorized by Gilead have sold the drug.
HIV counterfeit medicines were sold to pharmacies, including genuine Gilead packaging tampered with counterfeit foil-sensing seals or labels and filled with other pills
.

Gilead said that through communication with the U.

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