Gilead: Saving Lives and Making a Difference

On March 17th, 2008 I started an exciting new job as the manager of employee communications at Gilead Sciences, Inc. The 3,000-person company is headquartered in Foster City, California, but has facilities in Canada, Europe and Australia as well.

Gilead, founded in 1987, is a research-based biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes innovative medicines in areas of unmet need. Gilead's mission is to improve the care of patients suffering from life-threatening diseases.

Gilead’s primary areas of focus include: antivirals (such as HIV/AIDS and chronic hepatitis), cardiovascular conditions (such as pulmonary arterial hypertension and resistant hypertension) and respiratory diseases (such as influenza and cystic fibrosis).

Gilead has 11 products on the market. Atripla® is the first single tablet regimen for treatment of HIV. Gilead scientists invented the anti-influenza drug Tamiflu® (oseltamivir). The company's latest therapy, Letairis™ (ambrisentan), is a once-daily oral treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a progressive, life-threatening disease.

It feels great to be part of a company that is making a real difference in the world.