Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Reuters NewMedia - November 19, 2008
Deena Beasley

"In the U.S., only about half of infected patients are being treated," said CEO John Martin at the Reuters Health Summit in New York.

That suggests continued sales growth for Gilead's AIDS drugs Truvada, which combines Gilead's other AIDS drugs Viread and Emtriva in a single pill, as well as Atripla, a three-drug combination pill that includes Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's (BMY.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Sustiva.

Martin reiterated his forecast for Gilead's 2008 sales of about $5 billion.

Gilead's drugs have also gained market share as trial data has emerged showing that AIDS regimens containing Epzicom, a combination pill sold by GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), raised the risk for heat attack.

Only 600,000 of the 1.2 million U.S. patients infected with the HIV virus are being treated, Gilead's drugs are used by about 65 percent, or 400,000, Martin said.

Going forward, Gilead sees its future in hepatitis C drugs, and most of its research budget is directed at treating the liver disease, Martin said.

Hepatitis C is a crowded and competitive market and Gilead hopes to develop a drug that does not need to be combined with the current standard treatment, interferon.

Martin said it is too early to provide a timeline for development of its hepatitis C products, but said it is in discussions with U.S. regulators about trial design.

The CEO said he sees the future of hepatitis treatment in combination treatments. The company plans to be active in drugs with multiple mechanisms of action, whether through partnerships, product acquisitions or internal research, he added.

Martin did not specify which technologies or companies he might be interested in, but said he is looking all options.

Gilead, considered by analysts to be one of the most attractive investments among the big biotech companies, would not be open to being acquired by other companies on the lookout for new products to fill their own ailing pipelines, he said.

"We want to remain independent," Martin said.

He also said Gilead will maintain its current research and development spending of about 12 percent of revenue, relying on partnerships and collaborations for much of its product innovation.

Martin said Gilead's research budget is about 0.2 percent of worldwide spending on drug research. "There are less than 20 new chemical entities approved every year -- the statistics are against you," he said.

The company's AIDS drug, Viread, was approved earlier this year for treatment of hepatitis B and Martin said Gilead expects substantially higher sales of the drug in that setting.

Gilead expects to announce pivotal-stage results next year for its next-generation AIDS drug elvitegravir, an integrase inhibitor like Merck & Co Inc's (MRK.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) twice-daily Isentress. Integrase is a viral enzyme that enables a virus' genetic material to be integrated into the DNA of the infected cell.

Gilead's drug is dosed once daily, in combination with a booster. The booster in current trials is ritonavir, but Gilead is looking to develop a different booster so that the drug would be used as a first-line treatment.

Martin said it is too early to know whether Gilead will seek regulatory approval of the elvitegravir/ritonavir combination.

(Additional reporting by Toni Clarke; Editing by Matthew Lewis, Richard Chang)

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