TO THE STOCKHOLDERS, EMPLOYEES & FRIENDS OF GILEAD SCIENCES
I have the pleasure of sitting down with each new Gilead employee to discuss our company's principles. We begin with our mission: to create and develop new treatments for severe diseases through scientific innovation. Gilead's pursuit of this mission is yielding results, as you will see in the accompanying pages. With our first New Drug Application filed and several additional products advancing in the clinic, we now have a solid foundation for building a franchise in the treatment of viral infections--an arena in which modern medicine has yet made only limited inroads. Industry observers have commented that Gilead may have the most extensive antiviral product pipeline among all pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. I agree.
In my "welcome aboard" meetings with new employees, we also discuss several themes that are very important to Gilead. Here are seven of them:
DATA Our behavior as a company must be guided by what the cold, hard scientific and medical facts tell us.
INNOVATION The difficult diseases we aim to assault require innovation in the laboratory, in the clinic and in delivering new therapies to patients.
TEAMWORK Teamwork is not just a nice idea; it is essential, given the complexity of developing new medicines. We are a team, and individuals at Gilead are evaluated in large part by their contributions to teamwork.
AGILITY Our company has been able to swiftly recognize, evaluate and seize opportunities that contribute to our mission. We must maintain this agility as we grow in size.
PERSEVERANCE Creating, developing and delivering entirely new medicines is arduous. It takes a long time. There are many bumps in the road. Every medicine is the product of perseverance.
INTEGRITY Simple honesty and directness with each other and with the outside world: What could be more important?
... AND FUN Gilead people all work hard in our quest to develop new therapeutics. We are fortunate to work with people we respect and have the privilege of enjoying what we do.
Gilead has grown to 212 employees: an exceptionally dedicated team, pictured here. Our board of directors has also grown. In January, Jim Denny, Gordon Moore and George Shultz joined our board. We are fortunate that their depth of character and experience will help guide the Gilead enterprise through our next phase of growth: approaching commercialization and building the business.
In that "welcome aboard" conversation, we also reflect on the fact that if we at Gilead succeed in our mission, we will benefit many, many people in the world. Especially if, in our efforts against viruses, we are able to accomplish what antibiotics achieved against bacterial infections in an earlier era. It is a mission in which all of our stockholders and employees participate. So, with thanks for your support, it's great to have you on board!
MICHAEL L. RIORDAN, M.D.
Chairman and President, Gilead Sciences
February 29, 1996