1985, New York Times
The Road to the Discovery of HIV
Lawsuit
1985, New York Times
1984, New York Times
Further research proved Montagnier’s LAV and Gallo’s HTLV-III were the same virus, and it was renamed HIV. In 1984, Montagnier’s team filed for an HIV test patent. Gallo similarly filed months later, however, only Gallo was granted the patent. Montagnier legally challenged it in 1985, as the test would garner tremendous royalties.
Movie depiction of realization of identical viruses (1993, And the Band Played On)
“[AIDS patients] said, ‘Whatever you will say we will not believe you scientists because you’re more interested in fighting each other than taking care of us.’”
~Françoise Barré-Sinoussi (Researcher on Montagnier's Team)
HIV test (2005, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
“[We ask for] recognition that the French researchers were the first to discover the virus that causes AIDS; permission for companies it licenses to sell the blood test, without being sued by the United States Government for counterfeiting, and the right to share in royalties collected by the United States Government for sales of blood tests by its licensees... in the name of the scientific ethic.”
~Raymond Dedonder (Director General of L'Institut Pasteur)
The basis for the lawsuit were French claims that Gallo used L’Institut’s samples to develop his HIV tests, and it was only shortly after they were sent that Gallo’s tests were created. Additionally, Gallo’s original isolate was genetically similar to the L’Institut sample, implying it was from the same patient. Gallo retaliated, claiming Montagnier’s samples didn’t provide significant data, and that he used his own isolates when developing tests. He denied that the viruses were related.
National Library of Medicine
“I have no problem with Bob [Gallo]...It’s not interesting to me...I don’t care who was first. I care that there’s a solution for patients.”
~Françoise Barré-Sinoussi (Researcher on Montagnier's team)
1987, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
The French also believed they discovered the virus first, and thus should be awarded the patent. They asked the court to recognize the Pasteur researchers as the first to isolate HIV and acknowledge their significance in developing tests. However, Gallo insisted Montagnier’s research wouldn’t have been possible without his discovery of retroviruses and his evidence of HIV’s relation to AIDS.