RESOLVED, that shareholders of Gilead Sciences Inc. (?Gilead? or the ?Company?) urge the board of directors to adopt a comprehensive human rights policy covering Gilead?s operations, activities, business relationships, and products, that commits Gilead to respecting internationally recognized human rights, including the right to health, and to conducting human rights due diligence (?HRDD?) to identify, prevent, mitigate, and remedy the most salient adverse human rights impacts caused by Gilead?s or a supplier?s activities.   SUPPORTING STATEMENT   The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (the ?UNGPs?) state that businesses should adopt a human rights policy committing them to respecting internationally recognized human rights. [1] Although Gilead has a supplier code of conduct, it does not have a comprehensive human rights policy that applies to its own operations and commits Gilead to respecting the human right to health.   The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, ?Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including . . . medical care.? [2] Article 12.1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights ?recognize[s] the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.? [3] Access to medicines is a key element of the right to health. Target 3.8 of Sustainable Development Goal 3 assesses progress toward ?access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.? [4]  As a global pharmaceutical company, we believe Gilead should commit to respecting this right.   Gilead has been criticized for limiting access to its lifesaving HIV medications. Its recent deal licensing to six generics manufacturers the right to sell the ?game-changing? [5] long-acting lenacapavir has been faulted for sidestepping the Medicines Patent Pool and for its inadequate geographic reach. [6] Lenacapavit?s annual U.S. price of over $40,000 also inhibits access. [7] Gilead recently settled one case and faces a much larger one claiming that its delay in seeking approval for a safer form of tenofovir out of a desire to fully exploit its exclusivity period for its already FDA-approved but much more toxic form of the drug caused kidney and bone damage that killed patients. [8]   The UNGPs also state that respecting human rights requires companies to establish an HRDD process to identify, prevent, mitigate and remedy human rights impacts. [9] Gilead does not appear to have established such a process, nor has it disclosed any human rights impact assessments resulting from HRDD it has conducted. The supplier code?s requirement that suppliers conduct HRDD to identify and address human rights risks [10] would not identify adverse impacts of Gilead?s own operations; also, suppliers? incentives, including those created by purchasing practices, may discourage them from undertaking robust HRDD. [11] Conducting HRDD covering its own operations and those of its suppliers would give Gilead a full picture of its human rights risks and impacts.   [1]   https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/publications/guidingprinciplesbusinesshr_en.pdf , at 15-16 [2]    https://www.ohchr.org/en/human-rights/universal-declaration/translations/english [3]  www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-economic-social-and-cultural-rights; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7605313/ [4]  www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalassembly/docs/globalcompact/A_RES_70_1_E.pdf [5]   https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/pressreleaseandstatementarchive/2024/july/20240710_lenacapavir [6]   https://www.citizen.org/news/hiv-breakthrough-drug-licensing-deal-marks-significant-but-flawed-step-for-access/ [7]   https://msfaccess.org/activists-aids2024-demand-break-gileads-lenacapavir-monopoly-gileads-price-100000-higher-target [8]   https://www.statnews.com/2024/08/16/gilead-suit-patent-hopping-hiv-treatment/ [9]   www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/publications/guidingprinciplesbusinesshr_en.pdf , at 16 [10]   https://www.gilead.com/-/media/files/pdfs/gilead-supplier-code.pdf , at 6 [11]   https://betterbuying.org/the-impact-of-purchasing-practices-on-workers-human-rights/