Gilead Science Korea had a time to ponder and discuss how it could contribute to the domestic HIV infection control situation, which is experiencing difficulties in diagnosis and treatment due to the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, on the 3rd anniversary of the launch of the HIV treatment Biktarvi.
At an in-house event held on July 16, CEO Lee Seung-woo said, “As we celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the launch of Bictabbi in Korea, we can think about how we can work at the corporate level to solve the heavy task of resolving social discrimination and stigma against people living with HIV. It was significant,” he said.
He continued, “According to the concept of U=U (Undetectable=Untransmittable), which has become a global trend, HIV-infected people are hardly contagious because the virus is not detected in their blood even if they take the drug continuously. We will do our best to help eliminate misconceptions and prejudices and to take one step closer to ending HIV/AIDS by developing and supplying innovative therapeutics.”
Bictabi, a single-tablet combination HIV treatment, obtained approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in January 2019 and was released in July of the same year, marking the 3rd anniversary of its release this year. Accordingly, executives and staff, including CEO Lee Seung-woo, gathered to reflect on the hard work and achievements of the three years since its launch.
The executives and staff who participated in the commemorative event also had time to comfort the suffering of HIV-infected people who suffered from discrimination and stigma. Individual executives and employees wore their t-shirts with messages of support they wanted to convey to people living with HIV, and pledged to improve social awareness for people living with HIV.
Gilead Science Korea is constantly striving to improve the misconception about HIV/AIDS in Korea and promote early detection and rapid treatment of HIV for HIV-infected people who are in the blind spot of treatment, such as facing social discrimination and experiencing difficulties in hospital visits. has been implementing
Gilead Science Korea’s social contribution activities for people living with HIV include △Homosexual HIV/AIDS screening opportunities and prevention education support activities that started in 2014 ‘Homosexual HIV/AIDS screening project’ △The difficulties of people living with HIV since 2015 ‘WE CAN’T, WE CAN’, an in-house campaign that sympathizes with people’s sympathy for the realization of HIV cure, and ‘HIV is’ inspired by the 90-90-90 strategy of ‘UNAIDS’ since 2016, etc. There is this.
In addition, it operated the ‘Welfare Support Program for the Poor People with HIV,’ and sponsored the ‘Korea AIDS Prevention Foundation’ welfare project to prevent the infected people from giving up on their lives for economic reasons, considering that 1 out of 6 infected people is a beneficiary. .