AI-generated analysis, not investment advice. The articles are written by AI, edited, and checked against company filings — but the judgements are opinions and the figures go stale. How this is made · Terms
CompetitorsNarrow moat
Gilead Sciences (GILD) — moat facet
Gilead's rivals are named only in their own reports: ViiV head-on in HIV, AstraZeneca against Trodelvy, AbbVie in a shrinking cure, and J&J as partner and rival at once.
Gilead does not name its competitors. Its 10-K describes "a highly competitive environment" and lists the grounds of competition: "efficacy, safety, tolerability, acceptance by doctors, ease of patient compliance, ease of use, price, insurance and other reimbursement coverage, distribution and marketing"1. To see who it competes with, one has to read the rivals' own reports.
They describe four quite different relationships. ViiV Healthcare is the head-on rival in HIV, larger in injections and growing almost as fast as Gilead; its HIV sales rose 11% in the second quarter of 20262. AstraZeneca is the late entrant against Trodelvy, with a May 2026 US approval in first-line triple-negative breast cancer3. AbbVie is the rival in hepatitis C, a market both companies are watching shrink. Johnson & Johnson is a partner in HIV and a rival in cell therapy, where its Carvykti sold $1,887 million in 20254.
The pattern matters for the moat. In HIV, Gilead's core, only one rival operates at comparable scale, and the competition is over format, daily tablets against injections. In oncology, where Gilead has spent most of its acquisition money, it faces large, well-funded rivals and is losing ground in cell therapy. Gilead's competitive position is therefore strongest where it is already strongest.
There is also a competitor the 10-K does name in general: the generic manufacturer. Its patents and settlements with Lupin, Cipla, Laurus and others decide when that rival arrives; the exclusivity pages cover them.
The rivals' own numbers show where the pressure is building. ViiV's long-acting injections passed £1 billion of sales in the first half of 20265, and Carvykti's second-quarter sales rose to $657 million from $439 million6. Both are formats Gilead does not lead today: injections in HIV treatment, and a second-generation CAR-T in myeloma, which Gilead is buying its way into.
Competition is the facet most likely to shift quickly. If Gilead's HIV growth falls below ViiV's for a year, or if anito-cel launches into a Carvykti market already growing 50% a year, the competitive moat will be narrower than this page assumes.
HIV competition steady; oncology competition intensifying.
Whether Gilead holds pace with its only HIV rival of scale; negative for a year would mean the injectable format is winning.
- ReportedIts 10-K describes "a highly competitive environment" and lists the grounds of competition: "efficacy, safety, tolerability, acceptance by doctors, ease of patient compliance, ease of use, price, insurance and other reimbursement coverage, distribution and marketing".Gilead Sciences Form 10-K for 2025 - customers, wholesalers, distribution and gross-to-net deductions. — FY2025 · publ. 24 February 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedViiV Healthcare is the head-on rival in HIV, larger in injections and growing almost as fast as Gilead; its HIV sales rose 11% in the second quarter of 2026.GSK second-quarter 2026 results announcement - ViiV Healthcare HIV sales of GBP 2,078 million (+11%), Dovato GBP 749 million, Cabenuva GBP 453 million (+33%), Apretude GBP 140 million (+39%); long-acting injectables 35% of US HIV turnover. — Q2 2026 · publ. July 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedAstraZeneca is the late entrant against Trodelvy, with a May 2026 US approval in first-line triple-negative breast cancer.AstraZeneca Form 6-K of 26 May 2026 - US approval of Datroway as the first TROP2-directed antibody drug conjugate for first-line metastatic triple-negative breast cancer in patients who are not PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor candidates. — May 2026 · publ. 26 May 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedJohnson & Johnson is a partner in HIV and a rival in cell therapy, where its Carvykti sold $1,887 million in 2025.Johnson & Johnson Form 10-K for 2025 - Carvykti sales of $1,887 million against $963 million in 2024. — FY2025 · publ. February 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedViiV's long-acting injections passed £1 billion of sales in the first half of 2026, and Carvykti's second-quarter sales rose to $657 million from $439 million.GSK second-quarter 2026 results announcement - ViiV Healthcare HIV sales of GBP 2,078 million (+11%), Dovato GBP 749 million, Cabenuva GBP 453 million (+33%), Apretude GBP 140 million (+39%); long-acting injectables 35% of US HIV turnover. — Q2 2026 · publ. July 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedViiV's long-acting injections passed £1 billion of sales in the first half of 2026, and Carvykti's second-quarter sales rose to $657 million from $439 million.Johnson & Johnson second-quarter 2026 sales schedules, Form 8-K exhibit 99.2 - Carvykti worldwide sales of $657 million, up 49.4%. — Q2 2026 · publ. July 2026 · source ↗
- Gilead Sciences Form 10-K, FY2025
- GSK Q2 2026 results announcement
- AstraZeneca Form 6-K, Datroway approval