The fight against HIV just got another weapon in the chamber: The FDA has approved what Gilead Sciences calls its "Quad," a 4-drug combination, put into a single pill.
The Foster City company says the tablet - called Stribild - will be the third single-table regimen used to fight HIV. Gilead CEO John C. Martin released a statement saying, Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} “For much of the company’s 25-year history, Gilead has focused on the development of improved treatments and simplified regimens for HIV.” With Stribild, it would appear that patients have an easier way to get to those four drugs at the same time.
We're still waiting for information about how much this will cost. For now, though, like most of these announcements, the current one was celebrated by investors, pushing Gilead shares (GILD) higher in after hours trading. We'll see if the medical and patient community is as enthusiastic.
Scott follows biotech. He’s on Twitter: @scottbudman
