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Meeting Highlights:
- Gilead's focus areas: Leadership in oncology and virology, addressing unmet medical needs in diseases like HIV and hepatitis B.
- Collaborative Approach: How Gilead addresses challenges in a holistic way, being partners and collaborating with different stakeholders to develop innovative therapies.
- Eid's Access Definition: Making sure that every patient in need of innovative product can have access to it at the right time without having a huge burden on the society.
- Global Expansion: Establishing a direct presence in Saudi Arabia in 2024 to enhance health access and outcomes.
- AI Integration: Utilizing artificial intelligence to accelerate drug discovery and streamline development processes.
- Vision for the Future: Aim to deliver over 10 transformative therapies by 2030 while ensuring equitable access for all patients.
- Eid Mansour's legacy five years from now: Be recognized as a privileged partner to the healthcare system especially in oncology and viruses like HIV and hepatitis, supporting the transformation that is happening.
EF: I would like you to envision yourself addressing the global business community. What message would you share with them about why health should be a top priority on the global agenda?
EM: As a medical doctor, I recognize health as a fundamental and non-negotiable priority—one that underpins all aspects of life and well-being. However, it is crucial to communicate why this should matter to everyone.
We are living in a time shaped by recent global health crises, particularly the pandemic, which fundamentally altered the way we interact, work, and educate our children. Such challenges are not isolated incidents; they highlight the need for collective global preparedness in healthcare. As a global community, we must proactively strengthen our health systems to face future pandemics and evolving health threats.
Beyond pandemics, we continue to grapple with severe and life-threatening diseases that still have significant unmet needs. Take cancer, for example — despite progress, the fight is far from over. At Gilead, we are committed to pioneering innovative therapies for solid tumors and blood cancers, including CAR T cell therapies, to push the boundaries of cancer treatment.
Similarly, infectious diseases remain a pressing challenge. While some may consider virology or fungal infections as long-standing concerns, the reality is that new threats continue to emerge, and existing ones persist. HIV, for instance, remains a global challenge despite concerted efforts to meet WHO’s 95-95-95 targets. Certain regions, including the MENA region, still struggle with rising infections and gaps in treatment access. Hepatitis is another example—although Gilead made remarkable progress in curing hepatitis C, the goal of complete elimination remains unfinished, and hepatitis B and D still require significant attention.
At Gilead, our mission extends beyond developing treatments. Addressing these global health challenges requires strong partnerships with healthcare authorities, professionals, patient organizations, and communities. Whether at the global level—working with organizations like the Global Fund and WHO to improve access and health equity—or at the local level, collaboration is essential. No single entity can solve these issues alone. By working together, we can accelerate solutions, close gaps in care, and create bridges for a healthier world.
EF: It has been a year since you took on this role. Could you walk me through the mission you were given at the time of your appointment or the goals you set for yourself?
EM: Our involvement in Saudi Arabia is longstanding. We've been active in the region for many years, initially collaborating indirectly with local partners since the early 2000s. In 2014, we established our Middle East office in Dubai, and by 2021, we expanded into Saudi Arabia with the opening of a Technical Scientific Office while continuing to collaborate with our local partner, to ensure our products are accessible to more patients in need.
In 2024, we implemented the strategic decision to establish a direct presence in Saudi Arabia, through the establishment of Gilead’s affiliate and Regional HQ in Riyadh. This decision was driven by the country's ambitious healthcare vision, which aligns with our mission of bringing innovation and improving patient outcomes. To achieve this, it is essential to be close to patients, physicians, healthcare professionals, and policymakers. By working closely with all stakeholders, we aim to contribute meaningfully to the healthcare system and address the country's most pressing medical needs.
Our vision in Saudi Arabia is to be recognized as a key player and trusted partner in the country’s healthcare transformation. We are committed to making a real impact on the population we serve. Since taking on this role, my focus has been on ensuring first a smooth and efficient transition of operations, and then focusing on making Gilead an active and influential contributor to the healthcare ecosystem, recruiting and developing local talents, and accelerating access to Gilead’s innovations so that Saudi patients can benefit from the latest advancements as early as possible.
EF: As a medical professional, what does access mean to you?
EM: Access simply means ensuring that every patient in need of care can obtain it at the right time, without placing a heavy burden on society.
This means that governments and healthcare systems must be able to afford and provide these treatments to their populations in a timely manner by establishing robust regulatory frameworks to facilitate swift approval and availability of safe and effective treatments and developing and implementing effective health policies, which drive screening and linkage to care, contributing to identifying the patients in need and improving their timely access to care.
As pharmaceutical companies, our role begins by identifying real unmet medical needs and ensuring our treatments provide real value for patients.
Ensuring access requires having coordinated efforts among healthcare systems, healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies to remove financial and logistical barriers, to ensure equitable access for all patient in need.
However, access does not stop at availability. It also involves ensuring that the product is used appropriately—given to the right patient for the right indication and in the right way. Access is not just about putting a product on the shelf; it is about ensuring its effective use to truly benefit patients.
Creating a seamless system where regulations, timely therapy, appropriate use, and public-private collaboration come together is essential. Achieving this requires the collective effort of all stakeholders involved in the healthcare continuum to provide the best care for patients.
EF: What upcoming developments in Gilead's pipeline excite you the most?
EM: Gilead has a strong and promising pipeline, with an ambitious goal of delivering more than ten transformative treatments between 2020 and 2030. The company has made significant investments in its future portfolio, focusing on key areas such as oncology, HIV, and inflammation.
In oncology, Gilead is committed to advancing cutting-edge treatments for solid tumors while bringing CAR T therapies to patients with blood cancers. The impact of these innovations is clear, as they significantly improve survival rates and outcomes for patients.
HIV remains another core focus. Gilead has led the field with groundbreaking advancements, developing 12 cutting-dege medicines that helped PWH and reformed the management of HIV. We were able to accomplish revolutionary milestone with the introduction of the first Single Table Regimen aiming to address adherence challenges and to answer patients’ real-world needs. The company continues to push forward, recently introducing a long-acting injection administered once every six months for heavily treatment-experienced patients with HIV. This is a crucial step in addressing remaining unmet needs, even for smaller patient populations.
Gilead remains also committed to addressing hepatitis infections and providing treatment options for patients worldwide. After substantial advancements in developing successful treatments for Hepatitis C (HCV) and Hepatitis B (HBV), which have greatly benefited patients in our region and worldwide, we developed a treatment for chronic hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection, offering a much-needed treatment option for patients who previously had no approved alternatives. We are also expanding into inflammation, with a treatment for primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). This marks an important step in addressing another area of high unmet medical need.
These strategic advancements reflect Gilead’s ongoing commitment to delivering best-in-class treatments and breakthrough innovations, continuing its legacy of transforming patient care across multiple therapeutic areas.
EF: Are there any partnerships or initiatives you would like to highlight or are particularly excited about in the coming years?
EM: Gilead is widely recognized for building strong partnerships. Our approach goes beyond the product itself; it is about ensuring accessibility and availability, working alongside partners to address public health challenges.
At a global level, Gilead has established numerous collaborations, including with organizations such as the Global Fund and the WHO. Additionally, we actively pursue voluntary licensing agreements in low- and middle-income countries to expand access to innovative HIV treatments, thus demonstrating our strong commitment to the fight against HIV. This reflects Gilead’s deep sense of responsibility and dedication to social impact.
At the affiliate level, we have a long history of partnerships with local authorities, such as in Saudi Arabia, where we focus on key therapeutic areas like oncology and virology. Our goal is always to work collaboratively through initiatives that enhance awareness, screening and linkage to care, disease management, and local evidence generation. We also prioritize knowledge-sharing, bringing expertise from other regions in the world and ensuring the local scientific community has access to the latest advancements in medical research and practice.
All of these partnerships are extremely important to us, and some are particularly close to my heart.
In oncology, we have established collaborations with renowned institutions such as King Faisal Specialist Hospital and the Saudi Oncology Society, both of which play a crucial role in the fight against cancer.
For hepatitis, we have maintained a longstanding partnership with the Ministry of Health, initially focusing on the elimination of hepatitis C and now working together to address hepatitis B. Our efforts aim to enhance awareness, improve screening and linkage to care in primary healthcare settings and provide patient support and counseling.
One of our most significant areas of collaboration is in the field of HIV. We have a long-term partnership with the National AIDS Program, working together to advance awareness, testing, linkage to care, prevention and patient counselling — key pillars in the goal of eliminating HIV.
Additionally, we have partnered with entities such as NUPCO to enhance access to treatment. This initiative was particularly informed by the lessons learned during COVID-19 when many patients faced challenges in reaching hospitals or pharmacies to obtain their medications. Building on this initiative, we signed an MOU with NUPCO this year to further ensure that patients who are unable to reach healthcare facilities can receive their medications at home.
What is happening in Saudi Arabia is remarkable. Transformation is never easy—it is challenging to decide, implement, and adapt to change. However, this particular shift is incredibly energizing. Having worked in different countries and healthcare systems, I have never seen this level of commitment and perseverance in driving meaningful change for the benefit of the population.
For me, as both a medical doctor and someone working in the pharmaceutical industry, this is not just about therapies. It is about making a real impact on people’s lives. When my personal purpose, the company’s mission, and the country’s transformation align, it reinforces why I wake up every morning—to contribute to something that truly matters.
EF: AI is democratizing intelligence and making it accessible to everyone. How are you ensuring that Gilead Saudi remains future-proof while continuing to build a forward-thinking organization?
EM: Let me start by sharing what we are doing internally before touching on our external efforts.
Internally, at the global level, Gilead is actively integrating digitalization and AI across its operations, from drug discovery and development to making treatments more accessible and personalized for patients. We are enhancing our internal processes to improve efficiency while ensuring the highest standards of patient data safety and privacy. You may have seen in the news that Gilead is at the forefront of this AI revolution, recently signing an agreement with Genesis Therapeutics to leverage generative and predictive AI for the discovery and development of medicines targeting specific diseases.
At the local level, we are implementing the tools and technologies provided by Gilead to enhance our operational efficiency. AI plays a key role in democratizing intelligence, helping us optimize our market approach and serve our communities more effectively.
Externally, we have been incorporating AI-driven initiatives for several years. For example, we support healthcare professionals in their daily practice, particularly in managing complex and stigmatized diseases like HIV. Given the sensitivity surrounding HIV diagnosis and treatment, we have developed digital tools, with infographics and tailored content, to help physicians communicate more effectively with patients. These tools assist in explaining the disease, emphasizing treatment adherence, and assessing each patient's health status through risk assessment tools.
A few years ago, we launched an AI-powered awareness campaign utilizing deepfake technology. Given the stigma surrounding HIV, it is difficult to find individuals willing to publicly share their experiences. To overcome this challenge, we used AI to create a digital persona who shared their story on social media. The campaign went viral, significantly raising awareness about HIV.
We are also developing a chatbot system designed to assist at-risk individuals or those who are HIV-positive. Many people hesitate to seek medical advice due to stigma, so the chatbot provides a discreet platform where users can ask questions, receive immediate responses, and be guided on the next steps. This includes information on anonymous testing and how to seek advice to manage their condition.
These are just a few examples of our AI-driven initiatives, but our commitment to innovation extends further. To make a meaningful impact, we must stay ahead of technological advancements and continuously integrate innovation in a patient-centric way—ensuring that every effort ultimately benefits those we serve.
EF: Looking ahead, what are your key goals for the next five years? What legacy do you hope to build?
EM: We aspire to have Gilead recognized as a valued partner in the healthcare system, bringing innovation to support ongoing healthcare transformation in Saudi and making a meaningful impact in the fight against the diseases we focus on. Our goal is to serve communities in the most effective and intelligent way possible to improve their health outcomes and quality of life.
