Gilead Sciences to Provide Access to Anti-HIV Therapy Viread^® in 68 Developing World Countries at No Profit

"Viread's efficacy, tolerability, resistance profile and once-daily dosing may make the drug strategically important in resource-poor settings," said John Martin, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of the company. "We believe that through important new clinical research initiatives and no-profit pricing we will be able to increase access to treatment in the developing world, where HIV/AIDS has taken such a terrible toll."

Gilead's program, which will be operational by the second quarter of 2003, will offer Viread to eligible treatment programs in every country in Africa and in an additional 15 other low-income countries. This program will provide Viread at a reduced price that represents only Gilead's cost of manufacturing and distributing the drug and administering the program.

Key Features of the Program
The Viread Access Program is comprised of four main elements that are designed to improve access to Viread on a sustainable basis:

• Sale of the drug at no profit in the 53 nations of Africa and in 15 other UN-designated "least-developed" countries.
• Simplified purchasing in which Gilead will provide Viread directly to treatment programs, avoiding the extra cost and delay frequently caused by third-party suppliers.
• Information and guidance to programs seeking access to Viread, including technical assistance in the preparation of applications to become part of the Viread Access Program.
• Research to optimize HIV treatment strategies through clinical trials that help to define the best method for delivering anti-HIV therapy in resource-poor settings. Gilead is participating in the "Development of Antiretroviral Therapies" (DART) study, a 3,000-patient clinical trial sponsored by the United Kingdom's Medical Research Council that will begin in 2003 in Uganda and Zimbabwe. The DART study is designed to evaluate antiretroviral management strategies adapted for use in parts of the world where resources are limited. Gilead also is participating with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Family Health International in a multinational study to evaluate the potential use of Viread as a method of preventing transmission of HIV.

Program Details
Organizations that provide HIV treatment in the 68 countries covered by the Viread Access Program will be able to apply to receive Viread at the no-profit price to their programs.

Application forms will be available through a dedicated website to be launched in the first quarter of 2003 and can be submitted via the Internet or by email, mail or fax. The no-profit price for Viread and additional program details will be announced at the time the website is launched. The company will be prepared to ship Viread to qualifying programs as soon as the program details are announced.

Independent experts will review applications, and applicant programs will be evaluated based on their ability to sustain an effective treatment program, adequately prescribe and monitor patients, and store and use the drug appropriately. Gilead will take appropriate steps to ensure that Viread shipments reach their intended destination and, to the extent possible, will monitor the recipient programs on an ongoing basis to ensure that quality care is being provided.

About Viread
Viread is the first nucleotide analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NtRTI) approved for the treatment of HIV in the United States and Europe. Since approval, more than 65,000 patients have been prescribed Viread as part of combination therapy in the United States alone. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Viread for marketing in October 2001 and the European Commission granted approval in February 2002. In clinical trials and expanded access programs, approximately 10,000 patients have been treated with Viread alone or in combination with other antiretroviral products for periods up to four years. The drug works by blocking reverse transcriptase, an enzyme involved in the replication of HIV. The approved dose of Viread for the treatment of HIV infection is 300 mg once daily taken orally with a meal.

In the United States, Viread is indicated for use in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1 infection. This indication is based on analyses of plasma HIV-1 RNA levels and CD4 cell counts in a controlled study of Viread of 24 weeks duration and in a controlled, dose-ranging study of Viread of 48 weeks duration. Both studies were conducted in treatment-experienced adults with evidence of HIV-1 viral replication despite ongoing antiretroviral therapy. Studies in antiretroviral-naïve patients are ongoing; consequently, the risk-benefit ratio for this population has yet to be determined.

Safety Profile
Assessment of adverse reactions is based on two studies (902 and 907) in which 653 treatment-experienced patients received treatment with Viread 300 mg (n=443) or placebo (n=210) for 24 weeks followed by extended treatment with the drug. Adverse event rates in the Viread group were similar to those in the placebo-treated patients.

The most common adverse events in patients receiving Viread were mild to moderate gastrointestinal events, such as nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and flatulence. Laboratory abnormalities observed in clinical studies occurred with similar frequency in the Viread and placebo-treated groups. In clinical practice, a number of adverse events, including renal impairment, nausea, rash and asthenia (weakness) have been reported. Renal impairment occurred most often in patients with underlying systemic or renal disease, or in patients taking concomitant nephrotoxic agents. Lactic acidosis and severe hepatomegaly with steatosis, including fatal cases, have been reported with the use of nucleoside analogues alone or in combination with other antiretrovirals.

About Gilead Sciences
Gilead Sciences is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes therapeutics to advance the care of patients suffering from life-threatening diseases worldwide. The company has six marketed products and focuses its research and clinical programs on anti-infectives. Headquartered in Foster City, CA, Gilead has operations in the United States, Europe and Australia.

This press release includes forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those referred to in the forward-looking statements. These and other risks are described in detail in the Gilead Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2001 and in Gilead's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, all of which are on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to Gilead and Gilead assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.

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