In this episode of BioBiz Buzz, your host Mike Ward sits down with Dr. Jared Baeten, Senior Vice President for Clinical Development and Head of the Virology Therapeutic Area at Gilead Sciences, to explore how new data from CROI 2026 could signal the start of a new chapter in HIV treatment and prevention.
During the discussion, they unpack Phase 3 results from the ARTISTRY‑1 and ARTISTRY‑2 trials, which evaluate BIC/LEN, an investigational single‑tablet regimen that combines the guideline‑standard integrase inhibitor bictegravir with the long‑acting capsid inhibitor lenacapavir in virologically suppressed people living with HIV, including those on complex multi‑tablet regimens.
The discussion examines what non‑inferiority to standard-of-care regimens, high rates of viral suppression, and favourable safety and satisfaction profiles could mean for an ageing, comorbid population that still struggles with pill burden, drug–drug interactions, and resistance.
Mike and Jared then turn to prevention, focusing on twice‑yearly lenacapavir for PrEP, marketed as Yeztugo in the US, and the broader PURPOSE program. They look at how strong efficacy signals across diverse populations, early real‑world launch experience, and rapid access efforts in high‑burden regions may expand the overall PrEP market rather than simply cannibalise oral options.
Finally, they discuss Gilead’s long‑acting pipeline vision—from weekly orals to potentially once‑yearly injectable PrEP—and how the company is balancing ambitious innovation with mounting pricing and policy headwinds while aiming to sustain HIV franchise growth into the 2030s. They also examine how access can be expanded so that people living with HIV can benefit from these medicines in both high-income and low-income countries.
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