I read an article yesterday about the period of time when Gilead was rushing like mad to buy up Pharmasset and get their hands on Sofosbuvir. It was all green lights, but then I guess the Pharmasset people got a little hesitant and sent out feelers to other companies to see if they could get a final bid that was better than Gilead's. The names are kept private, but at least four other companies were solicited, and none of them went for it.
Sometimes you just gotta go for it...

I just mention it because Bristol Myers seems to have this awesome piece of the puzzle - daclatasvir - and they're still struggling to get the other piece. I have no idea if they were solicited by Pharmasset, though. But that piece was up for grabs at one point...

I like it when the "boys" play nice together :^)

I couldn't agree more. I'm recently diagnosed - late last year - and my outlook would probably be so much different if I had gotten the news a few months earlier. It would have been infuriating to watch the boys have their fight and realize that things would be delayed. Now I just cheer on the mean tough boy and hope he totally kicks ass.
This is a hashed over topic, I know.

Mom should have twisted both their ears a year ago and thousands of us would already be cured..

In Jan 2012 BMS bought Inhibitex for 2.5 billion to get their hands on its nucleotide inhibitor to replace the GS-7977 nuc after Gilead pulled out. Someone on their Inhibitex/GMS study died subsequently. BMS got sued and gave up on that combo. So 2.5 billion for nothing. Now they're scrambling to team with another winning molecule.

http://articles.marketwatch.com/2012-01-08/industries/30772313_1_new-york-based-bristol-myers-hepatitis-c-treatments-pharmaceutical-giant-bristol-myers-squibb

HepCat

Yeah, that guy had a heart attack, right? It's worth remembering that these trials can be dangerous...sometimes desperation makes people forget that part.
Speaking of risk...right now I've got a newly-arrived bottle of food grade hydrogen peroxide on the table in front of me. I posted on that stuff when I first joined here - it's an alternative "cure," I was told.
Not gonna use it yet...probably never. Who would I sue when the free radicals get me? Anyway...I'm straying off topic.

Yes, a young guy died due to heart complications. Not sure what kind but he was young with a small child & a wife.

I thought I'd look into the lawsuit thing briefly, and it seems there was a woman with heart problems, too - she ended up needing a heart transplant. This story kind of answers some people's questions about how the participants can sue in this kind of situation. Apparently, some tests done during the trial revealed emerging problems, but she was told to continue taking the drugs. That's what opened BMS to liability.
The dark side of these races, I guess.

http://www.law360.com/articles/373353/bristol-myers-sued-over-heart-damage-in-hep-c-drug-trial

Ont the other side
Bristol Reaches $80 Million Deal to Settle Hepatitis C Claims
That's quite the legacy to leave the "loved ones"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324539304578261782310743030.html

Here's another article about the transplant victim.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Woman-says-S-A-drug-trial-damaged-heart-3818569.php

HC