Gilead Says HIV Pill May Be Available in ’06

Gilead Sciences Inc. Chief Executive John Martin said a triple combination HIV pill that the Foster City, Calif., company would sell with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Merck & Co. might reach the market this year.

Gilead will file for Food and Drug Administration approval of the drug, the first to put three HIV medicines together in a once-a-day pill, in the second quarter, Martin said.

Researchers showed that a single pill combining Gilead’s Viread and Emtriva medicines and Bristol-Myers’ Sustiva was equivalent to taking the three drugs separately, Gilead said.