(CNN) The biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences (GILD) announced Wednesday a massive web of seizures across several states of "counterfeit and tampered Gilead HIV medication within the U.S. supply chain." In a statement on its website, Gilead said "in coordination with the US Marshals and local law enforcement, Gilead has executed seizures at 17 locations in nine states, seizing thousands of bottles of Gilead-labeled medication with counterfeit supply chain documentation." Over the course of a two-year investigation, "evidence showed that the distributor defendants sold 85,247 bottles" of the counterfeit drugs, according to the statement. The bottles were labeled Biktarvy and Descovy, two popular medicines to help treat HIV-1. An ongoing investigation "revealed that pharmaceutical distributors not authorized by the company to sell Gilead medicine were selling drugs to pharmacies that they sourced from various fly-by-night entities as part of the illegal counterfeiting scheme."

Source: CNN January 20, 2022 10:12 UTC