<SEC-DOCUMENT>0001214659-22-004872.txt : 20220405
<SEC-HEADER>0001214659-22-004872.hdr.sgml : 20220405
<ACCEPTANCE-DATETIME>20220405165250
ACCESSION NUMBER:		0001214659-22-004872
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE:	PX14A6G
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT:		1
FILED AS OF DATE:		20220405
DATE AS OF CHANGE:		20220405
EFFECTIVENESS DATE:		20220405

SUBJECT COMPANY:	

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			GILEAD SCIENCES, INC.
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0000882095
		STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION:	BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS (NO DIAGNOSTIC SUBSTANCES) [2836]
		IRS NUMBER:				943047598
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			DE
		FISCAL YEAR END:			1231

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		PX14A6G
		SEC ACT:		1934 Act
		SEC FILE NUMBER:	000-19731
		FILM NUMBER:		22807784

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		333 LAKESIDE DR
		CITY:			FOSTER CITY
		STATE:			CA
		ZIP:			94404
		BUSINESS PHONE:		6505743000

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		333 LAKESIDE DR
		CITY:			FOSTER CITY
		STATE:			CA
		ZIP:			94404

	FORMER COMPANY:	
		FORMER CONFORMED NAME:	GILEAD SCIENCES INC
		DATE OF NAME CHANGE:	19930328

FILED BY:		

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			Mercy Investment Services, Inc.
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0001699865
		IRS NUMBER:				263224636
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			MO
		FISCAL YEAR END:			0630

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		PX14A6G

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		2039 NORTH GEYER ROAD
		CITY:			ST. LOUIS
		STATE:			MO
		ZIP:			63131
		BUSINESS PHONE:		314-909-4609

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		2039 NORTH GEYER ROAD
		CITY:			ST. LOUIS
		STATE:			MO
		ZIP:			63131
</SEC-HEADER>
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<DESCRIPTION>GILEAD SCIENCES, INC
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<P STYLE="margin: 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="margin: 0"></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">March 25, 2022</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: center"><B>This is not a solicitation of authority to
vote your proxy.</B></P>

<P STYLE="text-align: center; font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><B>Please DO NOT send us your proxy card
as it will not be accepted</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: center">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: center">Shareholder Proposal for Anticompetitive Practices
Report</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: center">Submitted at Gilead Sciences, Inc</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><B>&nbsp;</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">We are writing to urge Gilead Sciences, Inc shareholders to <B>VOTE
FOR Proposal 9</B> (oversight of risks related to anticompetitive practices) on the Company&rsquo;s 2022 proxy.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: justify"><B>The Shareholder Proposal</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">Shareholders of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (&ldquo;Gilead&rdquo;) ask the
board of directors to report to shareholders on how it oversees risks related to anticompetitive practices, including whether the full
board or board committee has oversight responsibility, whether and how consideration of such risks is incorporated into board deliberations
regarding strategy, and the board&rsquo;s role in Gilead&rsquo;s public policy activities related to such risks. The report should be
prepared at reasonable expense and should omit confidential or proprietary information, as well as information about existing litigation
and claims of which Gilead has notice.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><B>Why should shareholders be concerned with anti-competitive practices
in the pharmaceutical industry?</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">Anticompetitive practices can often push the limits of law and regulation
and have drawn significant scrutiny from federal regulators. The Food and Drug Administration has focused on promoting competition as
a way to moderate drug prices,<FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt"><SUP>i</SUP></FONT> issuing a Drug Competition Action Plan and policy guidance<FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt"><SUP>ii</SUP></FONT>
and a Biosimilars Action Plan.<FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt"><SUP>iii</SUP></FONT> Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb complained
at a roundtable on generic drugs that branded companies &ldquo;are exploiting loopholes in our rules in ways that upset the careful balance
between access and innovation.&rdquo;<FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt"><SUP>iv</SUP></FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">Further, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has focused on curbing
anti-competitive conduct in the pharmaceutical sector, with then acting Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter stating in May 2021 that &ldquo;[f]or
decades, the FTC has challenged a number of illegal anticompetitive practices in the pharmaceutical industry that can lead to high drug
prices. The Commission should consider ways to build on this work by addressing emerging and evolving practices that have the potential
to harm consumers [and] . . . when investigating potentially anticompetitive conduct, we should consider the full breadth of the FTC Act&rsquo;s
prohibition on unfair methods of competition.&rdquo;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">The proponents believe strategies to expand monopolies, through such
anticompetitive practices such as pay-for-delay, product hopping, evergreening of patents, pricing collusion, etc. without any meaningful
new science or invention do not help create long-term value for the company or for shareholders. More importantly, it exacts a heavy cost
on health systems and communities. Engaging in such practices presents legal, financial, regulatory, and reputational risks that, unmanaged,
may threaten a company&rsquo;s social license to operate.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><B>&nbsp;</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><B>Gilead is facing a host of legal actions surrounding its HIV drug,
Truvada (TDF).</B></P>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol">&middot;</FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Wrongly profited off government patents</U>: Gilead is currently facing
a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for infringement of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention&rsquo;s
government-owned patents for PrEP drugs; if HHS prevails, it could be able to license other PrEP drugs and receive royalties for their
use<SUP>1</SUP></FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; color: #111111">&middot;</FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Kept safer medications off the market</U>: Other lawsuits allege that
Gilead sidelined its safer, newer HIV drugs to reap as much revenue as possible from the older generation before the new products hit
the market<SUP>2</SUP>. The suit alleges because of that delay, patients who took the TDF meds needlessly developed kidney and bone problems
associated with the older drugs, which require much higher doses than the TAF-based regimens do.</FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%" STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><TR STYLE="vertical-align: top">
<TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"></TD><TD STYLE="width: 0.25in"><FONT STYLE="font-family: Symbol; color: #111111">&middot;</FONT></TD><TD><FONT STYLE="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif"><U>Colluded with other brand name manufacturers to keep prices high</U>:
Gilead is facing accusations from consumers who allege that Gilead entered into deals with Bristol-Myers Squibb and Johnson &amp; Johnson
that blocked competition for HIV combination drugs and caused artificially inflated prices for the company&rsquo;s drugs<SUP>3</SUP><FONT STYLE="color: #111111; background-color: white">.
The company recently had to pay shareholders nearly $2 million in legal fees related to this case. </FONT></FONT></TD></TR></TABLE>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0 0pt 0.5in">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; background-color: white"><B>We are concerned that these strategic risks
are not fully addressed by Gilead&rsquo;s board of directors</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; background-color: white">Gilead&rsquo;s Statement in Opposition to
the proposal does not mention anticompetitive practices, nor does it discuss risks related to specific anticompetitive practices relevant
to Gilead such as pricing collusion. Instead, the company points to information in the proxy statement and other SEC filings about decision-making
around pricing and actions it has taken to address pricing and access concerns under board oversight.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; background-color: white">Gilead has not disclosed any information as
to how the Board oversees risks related to anti-competitive practices, which is the essential objective of the Proposal. Gilead&rsquo;s
board should be able to demonstrate to shareholders that it has applied rigorous oversight, with clear criteria, expectations and regular
review, to management decisions about pricing, patents, and innovation. Boilerplate or vague language about general strategic oversight
is not sufficient in <FONT STYLE="font-size: 10pt">light of intensive regulatory scrutiny over practices both within the US and abroad.
</FONT></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; background-color: white"><B>_____________________________</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><SUP>1</SUP> https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/gilead-loses-another-prep-patent-challenge-against-hhs-sending-dispute-to-federal-court</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><SUP>2</SUP> https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/gilead-fails-to-convince-judge-to-toss-hiv-drug-case</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><SUP>3</SUP> https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/gilead-is-accused-of-cutting-anti-competitive-deals-to-extend-profit-on-hiv-drug-cocktails/2019/05/14/94e79c56-75ad-11e9-bd25-c989555e7766_story.html</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0">&nbsp;</P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0"><B>&nbsp;</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; background-color: white"><B>Conclusion</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; background-color: white">In December 2021, The U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Oversight and Reform released their report on drug pricing, specifically calling out the kind of risks this proposal is seeking
to mitigate:</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; background-color: white">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; background-color: white"><I>Drug companies have raised prices relentlessly
for decades while manipulating the patent system and other laws to delay competition from lower-priced generics. These companies have
specifically targeted the U.S. market for higher prices, even while cutting prices in other countries, because weaknesses in our health
care system have allowed them to get away with outrageous prices and anticompetitive conduct<SUP>4</SUP>.</I></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; background-color: white"><I>&nbsp;</I></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; background-color: white">This mounting pressure on Gilead from regulators,
enforcers, and other market participants regarding anticompetitive practices could increase pressure for new regulation, increase risk
for investors, and have substantial impacts on the public. Given the widespread concern and rapidly changing environment, we believe that
robust board oversight would improve Gilead&rsquo;s management of risks related to anticompetitive practices and that shareholders would
benefit from more information about the board&rsquo;s role.</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; background-color: white">&nbsp;</P>



<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><B>We therefore urge shareholders to vote FOR Proposal
9</B></P>

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<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><B></B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><B>&nbsp;</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: center"><B>This is not a solicitation of authority to vote
your proxy.</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; text-align: center; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt"><B>Please DO NOT send us your proxy card
as it will not be accepted</B></P>


<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left">&nbsp;</P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><B>_____________________________</B></P>

<P STYLE="font: 10pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0pt 0; text-align: left"><SUP>4</SUP> https://oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/DRUG%20PRICING%20REPORT%20WITH%20APPENDIX%20v3.pdf</P>



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