Press Releases

May 16, 2003

Gilead Launches Web Site for Hepsera, Its Chronic Hepatitis B Drug

FOSTER CITY, Calif., May 16, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:GILD) today announced the launch of Hepsera.com, a Web site that provides information about the company's drug Hepsera(R) (adefovir dipivoxil 10 mg). Hepsera was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in September 2002 for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B.

Healthcare professionals and people living with chronic hepatitis B in the United States can learn more about Hepsera by logging on to www.Hepsera.com. Designed to be a comprehensive resource, the site provides user-friendly clinical and educational information, as well as links to other hepatitis B Internet sites.

About Hepsera

Hepsera, the first nucleotide analogue for chronic hepatitis B, is administered as a once-daily 10 mg tablet and works by blocking HBV DNA polymerase, an enzyme involved in the replication of the virus in the body. In clinical trials and expanded access programs, over 4,000 patients have been treated with Hepsera for periods of up to three years. Hepsera was approved in the United States in September 2002 and in the European Union in March 2003. Regulatory filings for the drug also have been completed in Australia, Switzerland, Turkey and Canada, and additional regulatory filings are planned in other countries in the coming months. In April 2002, Gilead signed a licensing agreement with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), granting to GSK rights to commercialize Hepsera in Asia, most significantly China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, and in Latin America, Africa and other territories.

About Gilead

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.

Hepsera is a registered trademark of Gilead Sciences, Inc.

For more information on Gilead Sciences, please visit the company's Web site at www.gilead.com or call the Gilead Public Affairs Department at 1-800-GILEAD-5 (1-800-445-3235).

SOURCE: Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc.
Erin Edgley, 925/683-9622

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