OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

WASHINGTON

February 21, 1996

Michael Riordan
President and Chairman of the Board
Gilead Sciences, Inc.
353 Lakeside Drive
Foster City, CA 94404
Dear Dr. Riordan,
Thank you very much for coming to the White House on Tuesday, February 20th
to meet with me to discuss drug development for vaccines, therapeutics and microbicides
to combat the AIDS virus. I found the discussion to be thought-provoking and insightful.
The wisdom and experience you brought to the table was quite helpful in moving
our discussion forward and I appreciate your candid comments and suggestions.
I plan to stay involved in this issue and look forward to working with you again
in the future.

AI Gore

AG/td

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THE WIHTE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release February 21, 1996
Vice President Gore Says Meeting With Pharmaceut ical Firms,
AIDS Researchers An Important Step in Fight Against Disease

Highlighting his and President Clinton's commitment to AIDS drug development, Vice President Gore
met Tuesday (2/20) with pharmaceutical company representatives and leading government
researchers. He said the private and public sectors should accelerate their joint effort to find and
develop as quickly as possible AIDS vaccines, therapeutics, and microbicides.
Attending the meeting were representatives of 11 pharmaceutical companies and leading AIDS
researchers and officials from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and the
Food and Drug Administration. They discussed ways to accelerate the development of AIDS
vaccines, therapeutics, and microbicides.
"This meeting was an important step in strengthening the goverrunent-industry partnership that is
essential to finding and developing effective treatments-- and ultimately a cure-- for AIDS," Vice
President Gore said. "We are committed to marshalling our best minds and resources in the fight
against AIDS."
At the December 6, 1995, White House Conference on HIV and AIDS, President Clinton asked Vice
President Gore to convene this meeting to "identify all the ways in which we might accelerate the
development of vaccines, therapeutics, and microbicides that can protect people from HIV and the
infections it causes!' The meeting reflects President Clinton's commitment to bring the AIDS
epidemic to an end .

In his three years in office, President Clinton has increased funding for AIDS research by 26 percent,
expedited AIDS drug approval, and strengthened the Office of AIDS Research at the National
Institutes of Health.
At the conclusion of the two-hour meeting, Vice President Gore announced the following steps:
The Administration will join with pharmaceutical manufacturers, health insurance companies and
other third-party payers, and patient advocacy organizations to develop a collaborative system of
clinical trials of AIDS drugs that have been approved by the FDA under expedited procedures to
determine the best uses and the long-term effectiveness of those drugs.
The Administration will work with international organization s-- such as the World
investment in AIDS vaccine development and trials worldwide.

Bank~- to

increase

The Administration will help facilitate the development of microbicides to enable women to protect

themselves from HIV infection.

The Vice President will facilitate ongo ing discussions between the gove rnme nt and the
pharmaceutical industry to identify promising .areas of AID S research that the gove rnme nt can support
in orde r to stimulate private secto r investment in the next generation of AID S vaccines, therapeutics,
and microbicides.
The Food and Drug Administration vvill pursue additional measures to increase the num ber of
anti-HIV therapeutics with pediatric indications.
Participants in Vice President Gore's Meeting with Pharmaceutical Companies and AIDS Researchers
2/20/96

The following pharmaceutical com pany representatives participated in the February 20 meeting on
AIDS drug development with Vice President Gore:
Anne-Marie Com er President, Chie f Executive Officer BIO SYN
Manuel Navia, PhD Vice President, Seni or Scientist Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Michael Riordan President, Chairman
Gilead Sciences
Joseph Pittelli Seni or Vice President for Clinical Research Wyeth-Ayerst Research
George Morrow Group Vice President,
Commercial Operations Glax o Wellcome, Inc.
Dan Hoth Seni or Vice President,
Chief Operating Officer
Cell Genesys, Inc.
Peter Johnson President, Chie f Executive Officer Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Patrick Zenn er President,.
Chie f Executive Officer Hoff man -LaRoche

Raj en Dalal Vice President for Corporate Planning and Busi ness Development
Chiron Corporation
David Pizzuti
Vice President for Anti-Infective Development and Medical Affairs
Abbott Laboratories
Eve Slater Senior
Vice President for Clinical and Regulatory Deve lopm ent
Merck