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Exclusivity on a TimetableNarrow moat

Gilead Sciences (GILD) — moat facet

Gilead's patents are a schedule rather than a fortress: Biktarvy to 2036 by settlement, lenacapavir to 2037, and about $5 billion of sales expiring in 2031-2032.

Gilead's exclusivity is unusually well mapped. Its 10-K lists primary patent dates by product and region: Biktarvy 2036 in the United States and 2033 in Europe, Descovy and Vemlidy 2031 and 2027, Odefsey 2032 and 2027, Yeztugo 2037 in both1. Settlements fix the American dates for the HIV products: the 2022 agreements for the tenofovir alafenamide products and the October 2025 agreements for Biktarvy, which set the earliest US generic entry at 1 April 20362.

Gilead 2025 sales by window of primary US patent expiry ($bn)1.82027-2029: Tecartus, Genvoya7.72028-2033: Trodelvy, Descovy,Vemlidy, Odefsey, Epclusa14.32036: BiktarvyGilead Form 10-K FY2025 sales and patent table; Trodelvy US exclusivity runs to 2032
Most revenue sits behind the latest date.

This is a narrow moat rather than a wide one, for a simple reason: a patent is a lease, not a deed. Gilead knows from hepatitis C how fast a franchise can shrink once the patients are cured or the protection ends. Its Harvoni sold $13,864 million in 2015 and $1,222 million in 201834.

What turns the patents into a moat is that Gilead uses them as deadlines. It moves patients to a newer, longer-protected regimen before each expiry. Lenacapavir, patented to 20375, is the next destination.

The schedule also has an earlier, softer cliff. Medicare will negotiate Biktarvy's price from 20286, eight years before its patent expires. Exclusivity now protects volume more securely than it protects price.

The table carries its own warning. Gilead notes that the dates are for primary compound patents and that "loss of exclusivity may be earlier under certain circumstances"7. It also shows how short some protections are outside HIV: Tecartus's US primary patent runs to 2027 and Trodelvy's to 2028, with regulatory exclusivity to 20328. The bought oncology products, in other words, are protected for less time than the HIV products Gilead developed itself.

The facet holds while the dates hold and the switches happen. If any court or settlement brings Biktarvy's US generic date before 2036, or if lenacapavir products are not above $2 billion a year by 2029, the timetable will have slipped against Gilead.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

Biktarvy date extended to April 2036; Medicare price from 2028.

The number that tests this moat
Moat Explorer calc
Revenue protected to 2036 or later, full year
about 49% ($14,334M Biktarvy of $29,443M total revenues, 2025), plus Yeztugo from mid-2025

How much revenue the longest dates cover; a falling share would mean more revenue sits behind earlier expiries.

How it's calculated: Biktarvy product sales divided by total revenues, Gilead Form 10-K FY2025; Yeztugo was not separately disclosed for 2025.
Source: Moat Explorer calculation from Gilead Sciences filings ↗
Aspects of the moat
DIG DEEPER 01
Settled to April 2036
Gilead's October 2025 settlements pushed Biktarvy's earliest US generic date to 1 April 2036, more than two years later than it had expected.
DIG DEEPER 02
The 2022 Settlements: Descovy, Vemlidy, Odefsey
Descovy, Vemlidy and Odefsey, about $5.0 billion of 2025 sales, lose primary US patent protection in 2031 and 2032 under settlements Gilead signed in…
DIG DEEPER 03
Europe Expires First
Gilead's key European patents end in 2027 and 2033, years before the US dates, making Europe a preview of the 2030s.
DIG DEEPER 04
Lenacapavir: Patents to 2037
Lenacapavir's patents run to 2037 in both the United States and Europe; Gilead is building its post-2036 HIV business on it.
⚠ Threats to the moat
⚠ THREAT 01
Hepatitis C Showed the Slope
Gilead's two hepatitis C drugs sold $19.1 billion in 2015 and Harvoni $1.2 billion in 2018; the company knows how fast a franchise can go.
⚠ THREAT 02
A Price Cut Before the Patent Ends
Biktarvy's patent runs to 2036, but its Medicare price is negotiated from 2028: the IRA shortens pricing exclusivity by eight years.
References
  1. ReportedIts 10-K lists primary patent dates by product and region: Biktarvy 2036 in the United States and 2033 in Europe, Descovy and Vemlidy 2031 and 2027, Odefsey 2032 and 2027, Yeztugo 2037 in both.
    Gilead Sciences Form 10-K for 2025 - patents, regulatory exclusivity, expiry dates and settlements with generic manufacturers. — FY2025 · publ. 24 February 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedSettlements fix the American dates for the HIV products: the 2022 agreements for the tenofovir alafenamide products and the October 2025 agreements for Biktarvy, which set the earliest US generic entry at 1 April 2036.
    Gilead Sciences Form 8-K of 6 October 2025 - settlement agreements with Lupin, Cipla and Laurus Labs; no generic entry of Biktarvy expected in the United States before 1 April 2036. — October 2025 · publ. 6 October 2025 · source ↗
  3. ReportedIts Harvoni sold $13,864 million in 2015 and $1,222 million in 2018.
    Gilead Sciences Form 10-K for 2015 - the hepatitis C peak: Harvoni $13,864 million, Sovaldi $5,276 million. — FY2015 · publ. February 2016 · source ↗
  4. ReportedIts Harvoni sold $13,864 million in 2015 and $1,222 million in 2018.
    Gilead Sciences Form 10-K for 2018 - the Kite Pharma acquisition at $180 a share ($11,155 million) and product sales of Harvoni and Epclusa for 2016-2018. — FY2018 · publ. February 2019 · source ↗
  5. ReportedLenacapavir, patented to 2037, is the next destination.
    Gilead Sciences Form 10-K for 2025 - Item 1A risk factors and pricing regulation: the IRA, Medicare negotiation, Medicaid, the ACA and tariffs. — FY2025 · publ. 24 February 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedMedicare will negotiate Biktarvy's price from 2028, eight years before its patent expires.
    Gilead Sciences Form 10-K for 2025 - Item 1A risk factors and pricing regulation: the IRA, Medicare negotiation, Medicaid, the ACA and tariffs. — FY2025 · publ. 24 February 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedGilead notes that the dates are for primary compound patents and that "loss of exclusivity may be earlier under certain circumstances".
    Gilead Sciences Form 10-K for 2025 - Item 1A risk factors and pricing regulation: the IRA, Medicare negotiation, Medicaid, the ACA and tariffs. — FY2025 · publ. 24 February 2026 · source ↗
  8. ReportedIt also shows how short some protections are outside HIV: Tecartus's US primary patent runs to 2027 and Trodelvy's to 2028, with regulatory exclusivity to 2032.
    Gilead Sciences Form 10-K for 2025 - patents, regulatory exclusivity, expiry dates and settlements with generic manufacturers. — FY2025 · publ. 24 February 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated October 4, 2026