Performance by Technical Area

Has an access-to-medicine strategy with executive-level responsibility. Gilead has an access-to-medicine strategy with a business rationale. The strategy focuses on pricing and licensing approaches to improve access to the company's HIV and viral hepatitis products, in countries where the burden is comparably high. The highest level of responsibility for access sits with an executive committee member.  

Financial access-related incentives in place for employees. Gilead has financial incentives in place to motivate employees to perform on access-related issues. These incentives include bonuses relating to performance rates. 

Measures and monitors outcomes and progress; not impact. Gilead measures and monitors progress and outcomes of access-to-medicine activities. It also publicly reports on its commitments, objectives and targets. For example, for the PEPFAR-led DREAMS initiative, the company reports reaching millions of people living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries with its medicines. However, it does not report measuring the impact of its initiatives.

Limited transparency about stakeholder engagement. Gilead performs relatively poorly when it comes to the disclosure of its stakeholder engagement. It discloses which stakeholder groups it engages with on access issues, but does not publicly share its process for selecting who to engage with, nor its policy for ensuring responsible engagement. Gilead has, however, internal guidelines for incorporating the views of local stakeholders.

Has measures to ensure third-party compliance with ethical marketing and anti-corruption standards. Gilead has a code of conduct relating to ethical marketing and anti-corruption, and provides regular compliance training for employees. The company provides evidence of having formal processes in place to ensure compliance with standards by third parties. The company does not disclose evidence of specific incentives targeted at sales agents to motivate ethical sales practice. 

Internal control framework meets some Index criteria. Gilead's internal control framework to ensure compliance meets some of the criteria looked for by the Index. Namely, it has an auditing and review mechanism in place, involving both internal and external resources, that also applies to third parties. It does not, however, report fraud-specific risk assessments, nor does it demonstrate evidence of a monitoring system for non-compliance in the workplace, or procedures to segregate duties, to ensure decisions are checked by another party.  

Below average transparency regarding access-related practices. Gilead publicly discloses its policy positions on access-related topics. For example, it published its position on fair drug pricing, patient access to treatment and intellectual property. It does not have a policy prohibiting political contributions in countries in scope, but reports that no such contributions occurred during the period of analysis. It discloses its membership of relevant organisations but not whether it provides financial support. Further, it does not disclose its policies for responsible engagement, nor does it publicly disclose its policy approach to payments made to healthcare professionals in countries in scope.

Commits to R&D to meet public health needs. Gilead has made a specific commitment to R&D for diseases and countries in scope, but it is not publicly available. Its R&D strategy for low- and middle-income countries is informed by an evidence-based public health rationale based on disease burden in low- and middle-income countries. It lacks time-bound strategies for completing R&D projects for diseases in scope. Gilead has one of the smallest pipelines in the Index with 22 projects. For diseases in scope where priorities exist, Gilead is active in eight projects; five of these target priority R&D gaps.

Access provisions in place for 33% (5/15) of late-stage candidates. Gilead has a general process in place to develop access plans during R&D. The process considers some R&D projects for diseases in scope, namely projects for HIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis B and C. Mainly, Gilead develops access plans for R&D projects in Phase III of clinical development that have clear timelines and processes in place. To date, Gilead has project-specific access provisions in place for five of its late-stage R&D projects. All five are being conducted in-house.

No policy for post-trial access. Gilead does not have a policy for ensuring post-trial access to treatments for clinical trial participants. Additionally, it does not disclose a commitment to registering newly approved products in all countries where clinical trials for these products have taken place.