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Access Planning in High-Incidence, Resource-Limited Countries for Lenacapavir for HIV Prevention

Foster City, Calif., June 20, 2024 – Today, Gilead announced topline results from an interim analysis of its pivotal, Phase 3 PURPOSE 1 trial indicating that the company’s twice-yearly injectable HIV-1 capsid inhibitor, lenacapavir, demonstrated 100% efficacy for the investigational use of HIV prevention in cisgender women in sub-Saharan Africa.

In advance of today’s milestone and in view of the company’s ongoing commitment to communities affected by HIV, we have been developing a strategy to enable broad, sustainable access globally. A key component of this strategy is to deliver lenacapavir swiftly, sustainably and in sufficient volumes, if approved, to high-incidence, resource-limited countries, which are primarily low- and lower-middle-income countries. To reach as many individuals who need or want pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as quickly as possible, we are pursuing a two-pronged access strategy:

  • Ensuring dedicated Gilead supply in the countries where the need is greatest until voluntary licensing partners are able to supply high-quality, low-cost versions of lenacapavir, and
  • Developing a robust direct voluntary licensing program to expedite access to those versions of lenacapavir in high-incidence, resource-limited countries. We are moving with urgency to negotiate these contracts.

To support our access strategy, Gilead is prioritizing speed to enable the most efficient path for the regulatory approval of twice-yearly lenacapavir for PrEP in countries that account for most of the global disease burden. We are exploring frameworks intended to facilitate faster access in target populations and countries such as the European Medicines Agency’s EU Medicines for All, and the World Health Organization’s collaborative review and prequalification procedures. EU Medicines for All provides opinion on medicines intended for use outside of the EU and can run in parallel with an EU centralized filing. We believe these frameworks could enable Gilead to secure approvals in key high-incidence, resource-limited countries as quickly as possible in relation to an EU approval.

Additionally, the regulatory filing for lenacapavir for PrEP is planned to include the results of both PURPOSE 1 and, if positive, PURPOSE 2, which is assessing twice-yearly lenacapavir for PrEP among cisgender men, transgender women, transgender men and gender-nonbinary individuals who have sex with partners assigned male sex at birth in seven countries around the world. This approach can help support lenacapavir for PrEP approval for multiple populations and communities most in need of additional HIV prevention options.

Our access strategy for high-incidence, resource-limited countries reflects extensive consultations with HIV-affected communities worldwide as well as governments, advocates, multilateral organizations, individuals who need or want PrEP, and community partners. Through these discussions, four essential priorities have consistently emerged: delivering long-acting PrEP with speed, at sufficient volume to meet demand, at prices that enable widespread availability and in coordination with partners on the ground.

These priorities are guiding every step of our strategy planning. We are also applying learnings from our two decades of innovation and leadership in global access to medicines. In 2023 alone, more than 20 million HIV and hepatitis B treatments based on Gilead therapeutics were made available to people living in low- and lower-middle-income countries. In that same year, more than 11 million units of Gilead-branded medicines were delivered to nearly 250,000 individuals in these countries.

We thank the people and organizations who have provided counsel and guidance on our lenacapavir for PrEP access strategy. We look forward to sharing further updates as milestones are reached.

The use of lenacapavir for the prevention of HIV is investigational and has not been determined to be safe or efficacious and is not approved anywhere globally.

About Gilead HIV
Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company that has pursued and achieved breakthroughs in medicine for more than three decades, with the goal of creating a healthier world for all people. The company is committed to advancing innovative medicines to prevent and treat life-threatening diseases, including HIV, viral hepatitis, COVID-19, and cancer. Gilead operates in more than 35 countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California.

For more than 35 years, Gilead has been a leading innovator in the field of HIV, driving advances in treatment, prevention and cure research. Gilead researchers have developed 12 HIV medications, including the first single-tablet regimen to treat HIV, the first antiretroviral for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to help reduce new HIV infections, and the first long-acting injectable HIV treatment medication administered twice-yearly. Our advances in medical research have helped to transform HIV into a treatable, preventable, chronic condition for millions of people.

Gilead is committed to continued scientific innovation to provide solutions for the evolving needs of people affected by HIV around the world. Through partnerships, collaborations and charitable giving, the company also aims to improve education, expand access and address barriers to care, with the goal of ending the HIV epidemic for everyone, everywhere. Gilead was recognized as the number one philanthropic funder of HIV-related programs in a report released by Funders Concerned About AIDS.

Learn more about Gilead’s unique collaborations worldwide and the work to help end the global HIV epidemic.

Forward-Looking Statements
This statement 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, including Gilead’s ability to initiate, progress and complete clinical trials in the anticipated timelines or at all, and the possibility of unfavorable results from ongoing and additional clinical trials, including those involving lenacapavir (such as the PURPOSE trials); uncertainties relating to regulatory applications and related filing and approval timelines, including regulatory approval of lenacapavir for PreP, and the risk that any such approvals, if granted, may be subject to significant limitations on use; the possibility that Gilead may make a strategic decision to discontinue development of lenacapavir for indications currently under evaluation and, as a result, lenacapavir may never be successfully commercialized for such indications; and any assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. These and other risks, uncertainties and factors are described in detail in Gilead’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks, uncertainties and other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those referred to in the forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. The reader is cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and is cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to Gilead, and Gilead assumes no obligation and disclaims any intent to update any such forward-looking statements.

Gilead and the Gilead logo are registered trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies.

For more information about Gilead, please visit the company’s website at www.gilead.com, follow Gilead on X/Twitter (@Gilead Sciences) and LinkedIn (@Gilead-Sciences).