Our Business Is Sustainable
Responsible Operations
Inside the buildings where life-changing science and medicines are being developed, we embrace sustainability and green building practices. By conserving natural resources, eliminating excess waste, responsibly sourcing materials and utilizing the utmost efficient equipment, we are able to optimize existing facilities and create high-performance work environments.
In the design of new buildings and retrofits, we partner with like-minded designers, engineers and contractors to prioritize our core sustainability values. All new sites constructed align with green building certifications (e.g., LEED and BREEAM). For operations where we lease, we prioritize sites that have been recognized for their sustainability.
Climate change is a significant threat worldwide, often impacting the planet’s underserved populations in particular — the very same communities we serve the most. This is why our commitment to renewable energy strongly supports our mission to reduce our global energy footprint and help curb climate change. As part of our target goal to reduce GHG emissions by 25% by 2025, we have developed a GHG reduction plan that includes investing in renewable energy, implementing energy-efficient on-site systems (e.g., solar panels) and adopting advanced energy processes that will optimize facility operations. As global citizens providing care, Gilead stands by our patients, at-risk populations and the environment through our ambitious GHG reduction strategy.
Pharmaceuticals in the environment (PiE) can have serious health consequences for people and wildlife. PiE can enter local water sources through human excretion from treated patients, or through the improper disposal of medicines from facilities.
Gilead upholds strict operational standards in all R&D and manufacturing facilities. No active pharmaceutical ingredients are released into the environment. And every facility is in compliance with regulatory requirements for wastewater discharge and solid waste disposal.
Gilead is also a proud member of the Pharmaceutical Product Stewardship Work Group (PPSWG), a membership association for drug manufacturers created to address the complex issues associated with disposal of unused and unwanted pharmaceutical products. It’s part of Gilead’s promise to make PiE and waste management a priority.
Gilead’s responsible sourcing program builds relationships with suppliers that meet our criteria for inclusion and diversity, employee health and safety, human and labor rights, anti-corruption, environmental performance and other supplier management considerations.
Three Pillars of Responsible Sourcing
Gilead proactively supports our employees in finding alternative, low-carbon-impact means of transportation through a variety of programs and initiatives, such as providing commuter bus services, supporting vanpool programs, installing electric charging stations, encouraging bicycle transportation by building on-site shower facilities and locating our offices near public transportation.
2019 Foster City Transportation Metrics
Our commitment to protect the environment and provide a healthy and safe workplace is evidenced by the strict environmental, health and safety practices we hold true. We encourage all management and staff to take a proud and proactive role in our commitment. And we continuously strive to improve our practices and raise our standards to make a positive impact on the workplace, marketplace, supply chain and the communities in which we do business.
Responsible Production
Gilead is committed to the socially and environmentally responsible production of medicines that improve and save lives worldwide. From research to development to manufacturing and distribution of our products to disposal, we are continually working hard to reduce our environmental footprint.
Gilead uses green and sustainable chemistry practices to reduce the environmental impacts of our manufacturing processes by implementing new green chemistry protocols such as the innovative use of enzymatic catalysis, flow chemistry and greener solvents in active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) synthesis.
By improving drug potency and using green chemistry techniques, we reduced all chemical waste associated with the API manufacturing of Biktarvy by 74% per patient per year compared with Stribild, Gilead’s previous generation of HIV fixed-dose combination tablets containing four drug substances.
In an effort to continually improve our sustainable production efforts, we joined the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative (PSCI) in 2018 and plan to have each of our preferred suppliers align with the PSCI guidelines by 2021 as well. In addition, Gilead’s Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) auditing program for drug substances has conducted more than 100 on-site audits or visits to 75 of our suppliers since 2015. We are always evolving our assessment, risk mitigation and auditing procedures to ensure everything we make is produced and controlled according to quality standards such as good manufacturing practice (GMP).
Gilead’s suppliers for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and drug products must follow GMP regulations put forth by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other global health authorities. All facets of production, including manufacturing procedures, testing methods, maintenance of premises and equipment, training, personal hygiene of staff and appropriate documentation, are covered under GMP regulations. These quality measures help ensure that we are in compliance with all environmental regulations, as well as preserving the health and safety of local employees.
Making sure medicines get to patients who need them is critical. Gilead’s Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing (PDM) team is at the frontlines of our responsible delivery system.
To meet the growing demand for innovative medicines, PDM is constantly optimizing and diversifying our manufacturing capabilities in socially and environmentally responsible ways — without compromising quality.
See how far we’ve come:
2001 - During the launch of Viread (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, or TDF), Gilead produced about 111,000 bottles at one manufacturing site — the equivalent of a year’s supply for 9,000 patients.
2018 - Gilead produced 18 million bottles of solid-dose tablets, capsules and pediatric formulations, and 8.6 million sterile vials were manufactured at more than a dozen partner sites worldwide.
By 2018, we reduced our annual ground freight mileage by 59% by consolidating product shipments from our sites in San Dimas and La Verne, California, to our distribution centers in the Midwest and on the East Coast.