Jan 15 (Reuters) - Gilead Sciences ( GILD ) and the U.S.

government have settled a billion-dollar patent dispute over

Gilead's HIV prevention drugs Truvada and Descovy, according to

a Wednesday filing in Delaware federal court.

The settlement follows a victory for Gilead in a 2023 jury

trial on the government's patent infringement allegations.

Gilead General Counsel Deborah Telman said in a statement

that the agreement "allows Gilead to continue to focus its

resources on its mission to discover, develop, and deliver

innovative therapeutics to people with life-threatening

diseases."

Spokespeople for the U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not

immediately respond to a request for comment and more

information about the settlement.

Foster City, California-based Gilead collaborated with the

CDC in the mid-2000s to test if Gilead's Truvada could prevent

transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in addition to

treating it. The federal government said Gilead failed to

compensate the CDC for discovering that Truvada can prevent HIV

infections.

The lawsuit claimed Gilead "exaggerated" its role in

developing the drug's HIV-prevention regimen, known as PrEP, or

pre-exposure prophylaxis, ignored the CDC's contributions and

refused to license the CDC's patents.

The government said in a pre-trial court filing it was

entitled to up to $691 million in damages from Truvada and $311

million from Gilead's related drug Descovy. Gilead earned more

than $1.8 billion from U.S. sales of Descovy and Truvada in

2023.

A Washington, D.C. federal court determined in a separate

lawsuit in 2022 that the government breached research agreements

with Gilead by applying for the patents without giving the

company sufficient notice.