According to plaintiffs in a recent Viread HIV lawsuit, Gilead Sciences knowingly delayed the development of a safer HIV drug in order to secure their profits from the more dangerous Viread HIV drug.

The Viread HIV medication is a drug manufactured by Gilead Sciences and administered for the treatment of HIV. The drug was discovered by European scientists in the 1980s and the rights to the drug were then purchased by Gilead. In 1997, Gilead showed that it had the potential to fight HIV.

The original drug was only available intravenously and was therefore not very marketable. Gilead modified the composition of the drug and created tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), an oral form of the medication which they would go one to sell under brand name Viread. The Viread HIV drug was approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in October 2001.

Viread HIV treatment has become extremely popular around the world and the drug has earned billions of dollars in profit for Gilead.

There are a variety of known side effects associated with Viread HIV treatment, and among these are long-term toxicity in the bones and kidneys. Because the drug requires high dosing to work, it can build up in the kidneys and bones where it can then do damage.

Two California men recently filed a lawsuit regarding the Viread HIV side effects, alleging that Gilead knew that there was a safer option as early as 2000. The company allegedly chose not to pursue the safer form of tenofovir in order to maximize profits related to their current patent on Viread.

“A company I trusted with my life took advantage of that trust by misrepresenting the side effects,” said plaintiff Michael L., according to the Los Angeles Times. “Gilead shelved a far safer drug […] simply to increase its long-term profits.”

According to the personal injury lawsuit, Gilead scientists developed a safer form of TDF known as tenofovir alafenamide fumarate (TAF) soon after securing approval for Viread. The company allegedly published research on TAF in April 2001, finding that the drug was far more effective and less toxic than its TDF counterpart.

Gilead allegedly paid doctors in the U.S. to give TAF to their patients in small clinical trials to test the effectiveness of the drug. The clinical trials reportedly showed that the drug was effective and safe, but the results were not published for years in an “act of extreme malice”, according to the lawsuits facing Gilead.

Instead of pursuing the drug, Gilead allegedly ended research into TAF in October 2004 after an “internal business review.” The company allegedly then funneled more money into their less effective but more profitable drug. With the patent on TDF expiring, Gilead conveniently decided to revive research into the drug six years later.

“By holding on to its research and shelving TAF, Gilead could patent TAF separately and save it for development when their patent and exclusivity on TDF ran out, in 20 years,” the Viread HIV lawsuit claims.

Gilead also faces a class action lawsuit over similar Viread HIV claims, with plaintiffs aiming to represent a Class of California patients who have undergone Viread HIV treatment since Oct. 26, 2001. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a Los Angeles nonprofit company, is funding lawyers for both the class action and the personal injury lawsuit.

A Gilead spokesperson recently told the Los Angeles Times that they were reviewing the complaints against them and would not comment on pending litigation until the review was finished.