I'm particularly excited because today we're launching ViiV Healthcare, a worldwide HIV specialist company resulting from a combined effort by GSK and Pfizer.
In my various roles at GSK, I've had some very interesting windows through which I've been able to view our HIV business. In the beginning--before I worked in HIV--I looked at the disease as so many people do. I only knew what I read in newspapers and had a very third-person, far removed perspective.
But that changed a year ago when I joined GSK's HIV communications team and learned about the real impact of this disease. I became much more passionate about disease prevention, awareness, education, and treatment. Soon I was attending HIV congresses and meetings, and learning more directly about how this disease affects people.
I could see the sense of urgency in their eyes when they talked about HIV treatments, and their hopes for ever-better treatments in the future. Suddenly, HIV was a whole lot more real to me, and I was more passionate than ever about working in this arena.
Now GSK and Pfizer are launching ViiV Healthcare, which seeks to address important issues such as the need for innovative research and improved access for patients.
The central proposition behind ViiV Healthcare is extremely exciting: a robust HIV company with a solid pipeline and deep expertise, but structured to be a smaller and more nimble organization that can respond faster to the changing needs of HIV patients.
I wish everyone at ViiV Healthcare the very best in their new venture. They're doing something that I believe will have a significant impact on how we deal with HIV across the globe. And how can you not be excited by something like that?
Leave a comment