Gilead's chief operating officer to retire

US biotech major Gilead Sciences has announced that Kevin Young CBE, chief operating officer, plans to retire, effective early 2018. Mr Young will remain with Gilead through the first quarter of next year and in an advisory capacity thereafter.

Mr Young joined Gilead in 2004 to lead the company's worldwide commercial operations. He oversaw the introduction of multiple new products, including the first single tablet regimens for HIV and the first oral direct acting antiviral regimens for chronic hepatitis C.

In 2014, Mr Young retired from his full-time role and served as a senior advisor to Gilead until 2016, when he returned to assume the role of COO. Prior to Gilead, he spent more than 20 years in the biopharmaceutical industry, first with ICI Pharmaceuticals and subsequently with Amgen. In 2011, he was appointed a Commander of The British Empire, one of Great Britain's highest civilian honors, in recognition of his "services to the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries."