Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company that was founded in June 1987 and is headquartered in Foster City, California. It was founded by Michael L. Riordan, a medical doctor with a vision to create a new class of therapeutics for life-threatening diseases. The company has a focus on developing and commercializing therapies in the fields of HIV/AIDS, liver diseases, hematology, oncology, inflammation and respiratory diseases.
Gilead Sciences has been a publicly traded company since January 1992, with an initial public offering (IPO) of 3 million shares at $8 per share. In the years following the IPO, the company's stock has experienced significant growth, and it is now a member of the S&P 500 index.
The company's first major product, Vistide, was approved by the FDA in 1996 for the treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in patients with AIDS. In 2002, Gilead's HIV drug, Truvada, was approved by the FDA and went on to become one of the company's top-selling products. Gilead has also developed treatments for hepatitis B and C, with Sovaldi and Harvoni becoming blockbuster drugs for the company.
In recent years, Gilead has focused on expanding its portfolio of cancer therapies, with the acquisition of Kite Pharma in 2017 for $11.9 billion, which brought the CAR-T therapy Yescarta into the company's pipeline. Gilead has also partnered with several other companies to develop and commercialize cancer treatments.
Gilead Sciences has been recognized for its innovation and commitment to improving global health. The company has been named one of the World's Most Admired Companies by Fortune magazine and was ranked 194th on the Forbes Global 2000 list in 2021. Gilead has also made significant efforts to address global health crises, including providing access to its HIV medications in developing countries and supporting research into treatments for COVID-19.