John Milligan

Former CEO, Gilead Sciences

Search every verified John Milligan interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. At the 2013 BIO CEO & Investor Conference, John Milligan, then President and COO of Gilead Sciences, discussed the company's outlook and the broader biotech industry. He described a "revolution in science" with high productivity but noted a "strange dichotomy" of reduced funding for new ideas, emphasizing the importance of continued industry funding. Milligan expressed confidence in Gilead's hepatitis C (HCV) pipeline, stating that the company's regimens, including sofosbuvir, would be "very difficult to compete with" due to simple single-tablet regimens and a high barrier to resistance. He estimated that 150,000 to 200,000 people per year could seek HCV care, and that it would take years to treat the estimated 4 million Americans with the disease. Milligan also discussed Gilead's expansion into biologics, citing the company's first antibody (6624) and an "explosion in productivity" across its portfolio. He highlighted the potential of the prodrug TAF (GS-7340) to offer safety benefits over existing HIV treatments like Stribild, and noted that Gilead had acquired a JAK inhibitor through the YM BioSciences deal to complement its work in B-cell disorders. Milligan stated that the company's aim was to treat as many patients as possible, rather than focusing on market share, and that Gilead was putting effort into diseases affecting the aging population, such as fibrotic diseases.