article on gilead sciences and its founder and ceo dr. michael l. riordan

7/27/2019 Article on Gilead Sciences and its Founder and CEO Dr. Michael L. Riordan

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BIOTECH A C H I E V E ~ I E N T Sthree of Gilead's most advanced products (I. to r.)VISTlDE (cidofovir injectionJ - approved for the treatment of retinitis in patients with AIDSGS 840 (adefovir dipivoxit) - in trials fo r the treatmentof HIV/A IDS and hepatitis B virusFORVADfTM (cydofovir get)-accepted fo r review bythe FDA fo r the treatment of refractory genital herpesIn patients with AIDS

T ERE IS BUSY, AND THEN THERE IS BUSY. Michael 1. Riordan, A.B. '79, summa cllm IlIlIde,B.s.Ch.E.'79, Cllr17 lallde, definitely lives in th esecond category. At Washington Unive rsit y,Riordan hel li a full, four-year LangsdorfScholarship, awarded for merit. While h e pursued bachelo r's degrees in biology and chem ical engineering , he was astudent representative to the University's Board of Trusteesan d swam o n the vars ity team. Young Riordan booked h iscalend ar in 15-m in u te incremen ts.Riordan m ain ta in ed that pace when he founded GileadSciences, a co mpany near Silicon Valley that is a rising staron the biotechnology sce ne. G ilead-which Riordan star tedin 1987-is developing a range of dru gs designed to fightviruses suc h as HIV, hepatitis B, and influenza. It no w h asa market value of approx im ately $850 million. Riord(lnse rved as th e company's p resilient and CEO from inceptionuntil th e spring of 1996, when he turned over m(ln agementof th e company to Gilead's chi ef opera t in g office r.Even in the invent ive wor ld of biotech , Riordan isunusual. Since hi s science days (It W(lshington University,he has crossed disciplines and cu ltures- from working inJapan and the Philippines to ear ning degrees in medicine(Johns Hopkins University) (lnd g radua te business adminis

~ r a t i (Harvard University). With each move, Riordanbuilt the global perspective on biomedical resea rch th atguided his effor ts as he sta rted Gilead.

Th(lt perspective has paid of f. Fo r an y biotech company,success is measured by financial stren g th , product approvals,a strong pipeline, and by its ability to attract gia nt pharmaceuti ca l firms as strategic partners to provide both generousfundin g and addition al. leverage for drug development.Today, G ilead collaborates with th ree such powerhousesGlaxo, Roche, an d Pharmacia & Upjohn. Last sum mer, thefirm introduced its first product- VrSTlDE(cidofovir inj ectio n) , a dnlg th at slow s th e advance of cytomegalovirus(CMV), which ca n cause blindness in people with AIDS.Riordan him se lf recent ly won Washington Univers ity'sYoung Alumni Award from th e School of Enginee ring andApplied Science for his biotech achievements- which hesays have been "f un every step of the way."

Riordan discovered the delights of biomedical resea rch20 yea rs ago a t Washington University. Mo lec ular techniques were revolutionizing biology in the mid-'70s, andbiologists were beginning to learn to "genetica ll y en g in eer"orga ni sm s. Researchers were creating usefu l microbes bym anipulating th e DNA in side bacterial ce ll s. At the time ,th e idea o f sp lic ing genes in to ce lls was revolutionary.

It didn't take Riordan long to ad d a biology majorto hi s chem ical engi neering emphas is- a dual academiCfocus that turned o ut to be th e first of many. Tn college,too , Riordan discovered a precious tool as he learned torigorously analyze new theories. "We learned how topick apart an d chall enge a research report," h e explains."[The skil11 is invaluable-how to critica lly eva luatewhat people say and write-ami it applies in set tin gsother than science."


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Full o f enthu s ia sm for medicine, th e co nfident Riordan a protein . This is th e DNA "sense" strand. In th e ea rlywas ab out to learn an eq ually powerful -but very differ-ent-lesson. As graduation approached, Riordan plann edto accept a Fulbright scholarship to study ph o tochemistryin England . But then he un ex pectedly wo n a Luce scholarship, which o ffe red exposure to several countries in EastAsia an d a year working for th e Mini str y of Heal th in th ePhilippines. Riordan had to choose. "I was attracted toAsia because my gra ndparents had met in Japan in th e'205," he reca ll s. "I didn't think I'd have man y oppo rtunities to go to th at part of th e world." And so Riordan, bornan d raised in Kansas, picked the Luce schola rShip .

Th e cho ice changed him forever. In Asia, Riordan wasassigned to a malnutritio n clinic, where he he lped treatstarvi ng children without money or food. " I ha d not see nthat before," he rema rks. "You might like to think th at scien ce and m ed ic in e have huge effects, but in develop in gco untries, th ey a re subordinate to the economy and politics." Witho ut money to buy foo d and provide ed uca tionto famili es about basic hea lth , a community does notprogress, h e says.

'1' 0 0 RROW'S T R EAT I\lf ENT Sd ; ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ; ~ ~ ; ~ ~ ~ i ; ~ ~ ~ ~ i ; ~ ; ~

pictured: cytomegalovirus

A ND so RfORDAN PICKED UP ANOTHERINTEREST: th e business side of health care.Th e lessons were multiplying as well. Worki ngin th e malnutrition clinic, Riordan came downwith dengue fever, a mos quito-car ri ed virusthat ca uses high feve r, fatigue, an d nau sea. "I was flat onm y back fo r three weeks," Riordan says, "a nd nothingcould be done ab out it . There's just no t much in themedical tool kit for this virus."

Nor for most viruses, in fact. Unlike bacteria, whichyiel d -a t least temporarily-to an a rsenal of antibiotics,viral diseases have largely escaped medicine's grip. Even asresearch e rs s trugg le with H IV, Ebola, and o th er so-ca lledemerging viruses, virolog ists have so far failed to find treatm en ts for relatively benign versions including the submicroscopic parasites th at ca use the flu and th e common co ld.

Lying in a fever ish state for weeks, Riordan had plentyof time to mull ove r medicin e's need for viral th erap ies .As soon as h e co mpleted hi s ten ure in Asia, he e nro lledin me d ica l schoo l at Jo hn s Hopkins Unive rsity. "I wentpurely out of curiosity," he says . "I wanted to lea rn moreabout th e sc ience beh ind human di sease."

Ju st as th e dawnin g o f genetic eng in ee ring inspiredRio rdan in th e '70s, another advance impressed hi mwhen he read about it in th e research literature in th e '8 0s:antisense. To make a protein, DNA-a molecule shapedlike a windin g staircase- unravels itse lf in to two st rand s.One st ran d is copied by RNA, a kind of chemi ca l messenger that reads out th e DNA's chemical sequence an d builds

'80s, scientists lea rned h ow to create bits of th e "sense"strand's comp lement, call.ed th e "a nt isense" stra nd.Researchers then use th e ch ains of "an tisense" DNA totr y to block th e production of certain disease-causing prteins. Antisense technology is a new way to create drugsthat block m al fun c tioning genes, such as th ose that leato cance r. Maybe, Riordan th ought , antisense techno logcould attack some of th e vi ruses that seemed so immunto conventional medicine .

The idea stayed wi th him. But so h ad his desire tostudy the economics of medical care. " I debated whethto stay in th e lab or go into the bUSiness s ide," h e saysIn th e end, business wo n. Again Riordan pu rsued a newdegree-an M .B .A. at Harva rd . All the while, howeve r,he stayed cu rrent 'with antisense ideas in viral researc hWhen he graduated an d took a job at a Ca lifor n ia ventu re cap ital firm called Meno Ventures, Riorda n visitedsevera l academic labs doing antise nse work. "I even tomy fr equent-flyer miles to Japan, " he jokes. Meetingwith scientists, Rio rdan bega n to ge t a clear visio n of away to apply his background in science, en g in ee rin g,medicine, and business.

That vision was Gilead. In 1987, with help fro m hi sventure ca pital colleagues, Riordan raised $2 million tola un ch a company initially specializing in antisensetherapies. Gilead-n amed for th e ancient site of a heal inwillow tre e - bega n as a small lab out side San Franc iscowith just six em p loyees. "Viruses are much harder to tacle Ithan a re bacterial, partl y because they're newer onth e scene," Rio rdan says. "So the discov ery of trea tmentfor viruses is open te rrito ry."Today, Gilead s sta ff of approximately 250 are inves tigat in g that fronti er. The company's therapies have evolvfr om antisense tec hnology to include a greater em phas io n using th e individual building blocks of DN A to blocviral replicat io n , as well as on co mputer-ba sed drug d iscovery. Next on the marke t from Gilead's R&D divisionma y well be a drug to treat HIV an d hepatitus 13 virus,which re plicate in a simil ar way. Th e potential medi ca tiis now in clinical t rials with human volunteers.

In the accelerated world of biotechnology, in whichstart-up companies seem to co m e and go, Gilead is anenduring force, with approxim ately $300 mill ion in th ebank and a pipeline of multiple products in developmenIts success is largely th e result of careful business strategRiordan says. "O n e tack we've alwa ys taken is to be veryco nse rva tive. We raise mo ne y for the com pany before wneed it, so we ' re never too close to th e cliff."

Gilead holds fast to anothe r principle: teamwork."J would argue that a new medicine is on e o f th e mostcomplex products to deve lop," says Riordan. "So ma nypeople in different disciplines have to work together fo ryears . Th e company works because we have found anexcep ti o nally gifted team." (\\\:,Ka1hryn S Brown is a IIce lance w I 1 1 ~ ' III COhlinilirl . ~ ' ( l U I i


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Title:BALMSFROMGILEAD

Namedfortheancientsiteofahealingwillowtree,athrivingcompanyisthe

productofMichaelRiordansdeterminationtoapplyhismultidisciplinarymind

tooneofsciencestoughestchallengesdevelopinganti-viraldrugs.

BYKATHRYNS.BROWN

Imagecaption:GS4104,anorallybioavailablecompoundGileadSciencesisdevelopingforthetreatmentandpreventionofinfluenzainfection.GS4104(depicted

inpink)isapotentinhibitorofneuraminidase(blue),anenzymecriticaltothevirusreplicationcycle.

THEREISBUSY,ANDTHENTHEREISBUSY.MichaelL.Riordan,A.B.79,summa

cumlaude,B.S.Ch.E.79,cumlaude,definitelylivesinthesecondcategory.AtWashingtonUniversity,Riordanheldafull,four-yearLangsdorfScholarship,awardedformerit.Whilehepursuedbachelorsdegreesinbiologyandchemicalengineering,hewasastudentrepresentativetotheUniversitysBoardofTrusteesandswamonthevarsityteam.YoungRiordanbookedhiscalendarin15-minuteincrements.RiordanmaintainedthatpacewhenhefoundedGileadSciences,acompanynearSiliconValleythatisarisingstaronthebiotechnologyscene.GileadwhichRiordanstartedin1987isdevelopingarangeofdrugsdesignedtofightvirusessuchasHIV,hepatitisB,andinfluenza.Itnowhasamarketvalueofapproximately

$850million.RiordanservedasthecompanyspresidentandCEOfrominceptionuntilthespringof1996,whenheturnedovermanagementofthecompanytoGileadschiefoperatingofficer.Evenintheinventiveworldofbiotech,Riordanisunusual.SincehissciencedaysatWashingtonUniversity,hehascrosseddisciplinesandculturesfromworkinginJapanandthePhilippinestoearningdegreesinmedicine(JohnsHopkinsUniversity)andgraduatebusinessadministration(HarvardUniversity).Witheachmove,RiordanbuilttheglobalperspectiveonbiomedicalresearchthatguidedhiseffortsashestartedGilead.

Thatperspectivehaspaidoff.Foranybiotechcompany,successismeasuredbyfinancialstrength,productapprovals,astrongpipeline,andbyitsabilitytoattractgiantpharmaceuticalfirmsasstrategicpartnerstoprovidebothgenerousfundingandadditionalleveragefordrugdevelopment.Today,GileadcollaborateswiththreesuchpowerhousesGlaxo,Roche,andPharmacia&Upjohn.Lastsummer,thefirmintroduceditsfirstproduct--VISTIDE(cidofovirinjection),adrugthatslowstheadvanceofcytomegalovirus(CMV),whichcancauseblindnessinpeoplewithAIDS.RiordanhimselfrecentlywonWashingtonUniversitysYoungAlumniAwardfrom


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theSchoolofEngineeringandAppliedScienceforhisbiotechachievementswhichhesayshavebeenfuneverystepoftheway.Riordandiscoveredthedelightsofbiomedicalresearch20yearsagoatWashingtonUniversity.Moleculartechniqueswererevolutionizingbiologyinthe

mid-70s,andbiologistswerebeginningtolearntogeneticallyengineerorganisms.ResearcherswerecreatingusefulmicrobesbymanipulatingtheDNAinsidebacterialcells.Atthetime,theideaofsplicinggenesintocellswasrevolutionary.ItdidnttakeRiordanlongtoaddabiologymajortohischemicalengineeringemphasisadualacademicfocusthatturnedouttobethefirstofmany.Incollege,too,Riordandiscoveredaprecioustoolashelearnedhowtorigorouslyanalyzenewtheories.Welearnedhowtopickapartandchallengearesearchreport,heexplains.[Theskill]isinvaluablehowtocriticallyevaluatewhatpeoplesayandwriteanditappliesinsettingsotherthanscience.

Fullofenthusiasmformedicine,theconfidentRiordanwasabouttolearnanequallypowerfulbutverydifferentlesson.Asgraduationapproached,RiordanplannedtoacceptaFulbrightscholarshiptostudyphotochemistryinEngland.ButthenheunexpectedlywonaLucescholarship,whichofferedexposuretoseveralcountriesinEastAsiaandayearworkingfortheMinistryofHealthinthePhilippines.Riordanhadtochoose.IwasattractedtoAsiabecausemygrandparentshadmetinJapaninthe20s,herecalls.IdidntthinkIdhavemanyopportunitiestogotothatpartoftheworld.AndsoRiordan,bornandraisedinKansas,pickedtheLucescholarship.

Thechoicechangedhimforever.InAsia,Riordanwasassignedtoamalnutritionclinic,wherehehelpedtreatstarvingchildrenwithoutmoneyorfood.Ihadnotseenthatbefore,heremarks.Youmightliketothinkthatscienceandmedicinehavehugeeffects,butindevelopingcountries,theyaresubordinatetotheeconomyandpolitics.Withoutmoneytobuyfoodandprovideeducationtofamiliesaboutbasichealth,acommunitydoesnotprogress,hesays.ANDSORIORDANPICKEDUPANOTHERINTEREST:thebusinesssideofhealthcare.Thelessonsweremultiplyingaswell.Workinginthemalnutritionclinic,Riordancamedownwithdenguefever,amosquito-carriedvirusthatcauseshighfever,fatigue,andnausea.Iwasflatonmybackforthreeweeks,Riordansays,

andnothingcouldbedoneaboutit.Theresjustnotmuchinthemedicaltoolkitforthisvirus.Norformostviruses,infact.Unlikebacteria,whichyieldatleasttemporarilytoanarsenalofantibiotics,viraldiseaseshavelargelyescapedmedicinesgrip.EvenasresearchersstrugglewithHIV,Ebola,andotherso-calledemergingviruses,virologistshavesofarfailedtofindtreatmentsforrelativelybenignversionsincludingthesubmicroscopicparasitesthatcausethefluandthecommoncold.


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Lyinginafeverishstateforweeks,Riordanhadplentyoftimetomullovermedicinesneedforviraltherapies.AssoonashecompletedhistenureinAsia,heenrolledinmedicalschoolatJohnsHopkinsUniversity.Iwentpurelyoutofcuriosity,hesays.Iwantedtolearnmoreaboutthesciencebehindhuman

disease.JustasthedawningofgeneticengineeringinspiredRiordaninthe70s,anotheradvanceimpressedhimwhenhereadaboutitintheresearchliteratureinthe80s:antisense.Tomakeaprotein,DNAamoleculeshapedlikeawindingstaircaseunravelsitselfintotwostrands.OnestrandiscopiedbyRNA,akindofchemicalmessengerthatreadsouttheDNAschemicalsequenceandbuildsaprotein.ThisistheDNAsensestrand.Intheearly80s,scientistslearnedhowtocreatebitsofthesensestrandscomplement,calledtheantisensestrand.ResearchersthenusethechainsofantisenseDNAtotrytoblocktheproductionofcertaindisease-causingproteins.Antisensetechnologyisanewwaytocreatedrugsthatblock

malfunctioninggenes,suchasthosethatleadtocancer.Maybe,Riordanthought,antisensetechnologycouldattacksomeofthevirusesthatseemedsoimmunetoconventionalmedicine.Theideastayedwithhim.Butsohadhisdesiretostudytheeconomicsofmedicalcare.Idebatedwhethertostayinthelaborgointothebusinessside,hesays.Intheend,businesswon.AgainRiordanpursuedanewdegreeanM.B.A.atHarvard.Allthewhile,however,hestayedcurrentwithantisenseideasinviralresearch.WhenhegraduatedandtookajobataCaliforniaventurecapitalfirmcalledMenloVentures,Riordanvisitedseveralacademiclabsdoingantisensework.Ieventookmyfrequent-flyermilestoJapan,hejokes.Meetingwithscientists,Riordanbegan

togetaclearvisionofawaytoapplyhisbackgroundinscience,engineering,medicine,andbusiness.ThatvisionwasGilead.In1987,withhelpfromhisventurecapitalcolleagues,Riordanraised$2milliontolaunchacompanyinitiallyspecializinginantisensetherapies.GileadnamedfortheancientsiteofahealingwillowtreebeganasasmalllaboutsideSanFranciscowithjustsixemployees.Virusesaremuchhardertotackle[thanarebacteria],partlybecausetheyreneweronthescene,Riordansays.Sothediscoveryoftreatmentsforvirusesisopenterritory.Today,Gileadsstaffofapproximately250areinvestigatingthatfrontier.The

companystherapieshaveevolvedfromantisensetechnologytoincludegreateremphasisonusingtheindividualbuildingblocksofDNAtoblockviralreplication,aswellasoncomputer-baseddrugdiscovery.NextonthemarketfromGileadsR&DdivisionmaywellbeadrugtotreatHIVandhepatitisBvirus,whichreplicateinasimilarway.Thepotentialmedicationisnowinclinicaltrialswithhumanvolunteers.


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Intheacceleratedworldofbiotechnology,inwhichstart-upcompaniesseemtocomeandgo,Gileadisanenduringforce,withapproximately$300millioninthebankandapipelineofmultipleproductsindevelopment.Itssuccessislargelytheresultofcarefulbusinessstrategy,Riordansays.Onetackwevealwaystakenistobeveryconservative.Weraisemoneyforthecompanybeforeweneedit,sowere

nevertooclosetothecliff.Gileadholdsfasttoanotherprinciple:teamwork.Iwouldarguethatanewmedicineisoneofthemostcomplexproductstodevelop,saysRiordan.Somanypeopleindifferentdisciplineshavetoworktogetherforyears.Thecompanyworksbecausewehavefoundanexceptionallygiftedteam.WashingtonUniversityMagazine.Spring,1997.

article on gilead sciences and its founder and ceo dr. michael l. riordan

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