With Proposal #6, AIDS group urges shareholders to vote to request the company produce a report on the impact of extended patent exclusivities on patient access to Gilead medications

Life-saving drugs are worthless if patients cannot access the medications. At Gilead’s annual general meeting on April 30^th, 2026, shareholders have an opportunity to shine a light on the inner workings of the company’s drug development pipeline – where greed dictates the terms more than researching and developing drugs that save lives.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) filed Proposal 6 (pp. 98-100) – which asks Gilead’s Board of Directors to provide a report that assesses the risks of how extending patent exclusivities of existing therapeutics could delay the company from releasing breakthrough treatments and biosimilars, hindering patient access to more effective and/or affordable treatments.

Gilead’s patent manipulation tactics are just another way the company puts profit over people. Despite the fiscal pressures facing many state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs), the drug giant is planning to raise prices on the products it sells taxpayer-funded programs for low-income Americans. While the company backed away from raising prices last year, the potential price hikes remain a constant threat. Make no mistake, Gilead is not facing economic headwinds. The company just rewarded shareholders with an increased cash dividend on the heels of 5% growth in sales of Biktarvy in the fourth quarter of 2025; the blockbuster HIV drug generated $4 billion in revenue for company coffers.

Gilead’s greed helped cause the ADAP crisis in Florida. Price gouging the support program each year created a budget shortfall, forcing the state into lowering its financial eligibility threshold and removing Biktarvy – the highly effective preferred medication for most people living with HIV and their prescribers – from the state formulary to contain costs. The state will now provide patients with the cheaper but much less effective Truvada, an older Gilead HIV medication that causes liver damage and osteoporosis in many patients. The result is that fewer patients will have access to safer, more effective medications.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the world’s largest HIV/AIDS healthcare organization, provides cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to more than 2.9 million individuals across 50 countries, including the U.S. and in Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region, and Eastern Europe. In January 2025, AHF received the MLK, Jr. Social Justice Award, The King Center’s highest recognition for an organization leading work in the social justice arena. To learn more about AHF, visit us online at AIDShealth.org, find us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.

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Proposal 6 asks Gilead’s Board for a report on the risks of extending patent exclusivities of existing therapeutics, which could delay Gilead's release of better treatments & biosimilars, hindering patient access to more effective & affordable treatments.