by Terry Michael
Gilead Sciences, headquartered in Foster City, CA, is the world's number one purveyor of the chemotherapies known as "anti-retrovirals" (ARVs.) In 2011, the company (named for the Biblical "balm of Gilead") reported ARV sales of about $6.91 billion dollars. The trade names for their ARVs are: Truvada, Atripla, Viread, Complera and Emtriva--all of which they acknowledge have serious adverse "side" effects (as noted in the Gilead prescribing information for Truvada.) Gilead was way ahead of nearest competitor Bristol-Myers-Squibb, which sold about $3.05 billion of the chemo in 2011, according to year-end corporate reports I have reviewed.










