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Gilead patents on costly hepatitis C drug challenged in five countries

By Brendan Pierson NEW YORK (Reuters) – A U.S. group is trying to block patents in five countries for Gilead Sciences Inc’s costly hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, in a bid to give almost 60 million afflicted people access to cheaper generic versions. In Argentina, Brazil, China, Russia and Ukraine, challenges have been filed against Gilead’s patents or patent applications, the New York-based Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge, or I-MAK,

Hormel Foods says avian flu likely to hurt turkey sales till 2016

(Reuters) – Hormel Foods Corp, the maker of Spam lunch meat, said it expected sales at its Jennie-O Turkey Store business to fall about 15 percent in the second half of the year, due to a supply shortfall caused by an avian flu outbreak in the United States. The Jennie-O business ended the second quarter facing substantial supply chain challenges, Chief Executive Jeffrey Ettinger said in a statement on Wednesday.

Hormel Foods to USDA: Your turkey forecast is for the birds

By P.J. Huffstutter CHICAGO (Reuters) – Hormel Foods’ chief executive cast doubt on federal forecasts for as much as 4 percent increase in turkey meat production on Wednesday, due to a devastating outbreak of avian flu that has “significantly challenged” its Jennie-O Turkey Store business. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest supply projections, released on May 12, forecast domestic turkey production would reach 5.979 billion pounds in 2015, a nearly