Good medicine for a global community

By Morgan Davis

Huge numbers of nonprofits exist that are devoted to caring, educating and treating patients diagnosed with HIV and other life threatening diseases.

These organizations rely on generous donations from the community. They rely on the support of volunteers. And many rely on grants and donations from large corporations. Gilead Sciences Inc. is one such corporation, which manages to give back to the community that benefits from its products.

Gilead Sciences is a research-based biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes innovative medicines in areas of unmet need. HIV/AIDS, liver disease and serious cardiovascular and respiratory conditions are examples of such areas. Gilead pursues advances in medications to provide better options for patients living with life-threatening diseases. The company was ranked No. 1 in BusinessWeek’s 2009 listing of the 50 best-performing companies.

But Gilead’s contribution to the global community extends past its discoveries and marketed medications. As Amy Flood, board member and senior director of Public Affairs, said, “We believe that good corporate citizenship means contributing to community well being.”

Gilead contributes to communities in areas where it operates, including at its headquarters in Foster City. In 2005, the company established the Gilead Foundation to improve the health and well being of underserved communities. The foundation is funded solely by Gilead Sciences.

“The Gilead Foundation focuses primarily on the developing world, although a growing number of grants are directed toward underserved communities in the United States,” Flood said. “In 2008, about two-thirds of the foundation’s total giving went to programs in Sub-Saharan Africa and about one-quarter went to U.S. programs.”

Locally, Gilead has annually sponsored the AIDS LifeCycle and in recent months, it has provided corporate grants in support of active events including the American Heart Association Walk in Burlingame, the Liver LIFE Walk in San Francisco and AIDS Walks and Runs.

“Gilead is engaged with the communities we serve at all levels of the organization,” Flood said. “We partner with community-based organizations to raise awareness about diseases and health issues having a disproportionate impact on communities of color, for example.”

Gilead employees support the initiatives on an individual level, volunteering time to issues and organizations that are important to them. Staff members work on behalf of disadvantaged children and homeless families, conduct regular on-site food and clothing drives and participate enthusiastically as members of the Gilead team in fund- and awareness-raising events.

In 2008, Gilead received the San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s Leadership Award, for its commitment to research and creation of products for AIDS patients. The company has made huge advancements in HIV therapies, marketing Atripla, the first and only once-daily single tablet regimen for the treatment of HIV infection in adults.

Gilead Foundation grants focus on expanding access to HIV and hepatitis education, outreach, prevention and health services. To date, Gilead has supported projects and partners working toward these goals throughout North America, Asia and Africa.

“It is important to remember what remarkable progress in HIV therapy has been made in recent years,” Flood said. “At Gilead, we are proud to have contributed to the medical advances that have saved lives.

“However, not everyone who needs HIV treatment today is receiving it. Often, people do not get treated because they do not even know that they have been infected.” Flood cited an estimate that 1 in 5 Americans living with HIV is unaware of his or her HIV status. “Preventing new infections and ensuring those who are infected are diagnosed and linked to good medical care is an ongoing challenge.

“We work hard to ensure that our life-saving medicines are available to those who need them – developing drugs is only part of the challenge. We have a patient assistance program for U.S. patients who cannot afford medication or who don’t have adequate insurance. And since 2003, we have had in place and have worked to refine and improve an access program in the developing world, through which we provide access to our HIV medications essentially at cost (or no profit to the company) in those countries hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic.

“We also have partnerships with multiple Indian-based companies; these partners are developing generic versions of our HIV medications for sale in 95 developing countries, including India,” Flood continued. “The goal of the partnerships is to increase production and further reduce the cost of HIV medication to patients most in need.
“Lastly, we provide charitable contributions to a broad range of non-profit organizations through corporate giving initiatives. We are proud that the Gilead Foundation is able to collaborate with the organizations that we have funded – the work of these groups is inspiring to all of us.”

For information about grants Gilead provides to nonprofits and healthcare programs, visit http://grants.gilead.com/.
For local resources on HIV/AIDS or to volunteer, visit www.sfaf.org.

San Francisco Weather Forecast, CA (94124)