Gilead’s new CEO defends HIV prevention drug in US Congress

By PharmaCompass

2019-05-24

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Last week, newly appointed Gilead CEO Daniel O’Day faced scathing attack at a House hearing with Democrats demanding answers on how the drug company could charge US$ 1,700 a month for an HIV prevention drug discovered through taxpayer-funded research.

The hearing came on the heels of an investigation by the PrEP4All Collaboration into the invention of Truvada (a combination of emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) for PrEP, short for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis. PrEP means protecting yourself before you come in contact with HIV-1.

The activist group found that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) holds patents on the drug, since federal money funded the researchers who made the discovery.

Last week, O’Day contradicted expert researchers on the panel and Democrats on the committee, downplaying the role of public funds in the discovery of the drug combination’s use for HIV prevention.

“Gilead invented Truvada,” O’Day said. “Prior to 1995, Gilead assisted in studies designed to assess the efficacy of tenofovir for PrEP. Gilead donated all of the drug used in these studies, collaborated in the study methodology design, provided dosing guidance, and participated in analysis of the study results.”

The drug tenofovir’s history goes back to the 1980s, when it was discovered by European scientists. Gilead, then a small biotech firm, bought the rights to sell the drug. In 1997, the company showed that it fought HIV. Tenofovir was licensed for use in patients with HIV in 2001.

After Robert Grant, who Public Citizen calls the father of PrEP, testified that Gilead “did not provide leadership, innovation or funding for PrEP research,” O’Day told lawmakers that researchers at the company have helped transform HIV from a “death sentence to a manageable chronic condition.” Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization.

At the hearing, O’Day said Gilead believes the CDCP’s PrEP patent is invalid. However, Gilead hasn’t sued CDCP because it values its relationship with the agency. While the firm has generated billions in HIV sales, Gilead’s current cash cow — its blockbuster hepatitis C franchise which turned the company into a pharmaceutical giant — has seen sales slipping. Gilead brought in O’Day from Roche, and once he took over as CEO in March this year, he said one of his top priorities is to bolster the firm’s drug pipeline.

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