Gilead Sciences has participated in the 51st Congress of the Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver (AEEH), held in Madrid, where it has reaffirmed its support for patients, specialists and research in hepatology under the motto ‘Count on me, we are and will be, together, against liver diseases’.
During the meeting, the company focused on the importance of early diagnosis and treatment in hepatitis Delta (VHD), the challenges in addressing primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and new strategies to improve the diagnosis and linkage of patients with viral hepatitis to the healthcare system.
The director of the Liver Diseases Unit of Gilead Spain and Portugal, Natalia Granados, highlighted the company’s “solid and sustained commitment” to innovation in this area, with the aim of promoting early diagnosis and more effective care in pathologies with important unmet medical needs, in collaboration with the different agents of the health system.
For his part, the president of the AEEH, Dr. Rafael Bañares Cañizares, highlighted the joint commitment of the scientific society and the company to promote knowledge and translate advances in research into real benefits for the population.
Immune-mediated diseases and viral hepatitis
As part of the congress, Gilead organized a symposium focused on primary biliary cholangitis, a chronic immune-mediated liver disease that causes inflammation and progressive destruction of small intrahepatic bile ducts, which can lead to cirrhosis or the need for a transplant if not properly managed. Although it is rare, it is the most common liver disease associated with chronic cholestasis in adults and mainly affects women, with an approximate proportion of nine cases for every man. The experts stressed the need to advance not only in biochemical improvement but also in symptomatic control, especially pruritus and fatigue.
Likewise, the company organized the conference ‘Diagnostic and clinical approach to viral hepatitis’, aligned with the objective of the World Health Organization (WHO) to eliminate these infections as a threat to public health by 2030. During the session it was recalled that the hepatitis B virus is the second most relevant carcinogen worldwide and that co-infection with hepatitis Delta significantly increases the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. According to the AEEH registry, 43% of patients with hepatitis D had cirrhosis at the time of diagnosis.
The specialists insisted on the need to reinforce screening and early diagnosis strategies, as well as improve care linkage circuits, given that there is still a significant number of undiagnosed patients or in advanced stages of the disease.
Gilead-AEEH and Microelimination Scholarships
During the congress, the 8th edition of the Gilead-AEEH Scholarships for Microelimination Projects in Hepatitis C and diagnosis and linkage to the National Health System in patients with Hepatitis D were awarded. In this call, initiatives will be promoted in the Canary Islands, the Valencian Community, the Basque Country, Aragon, Catalonia, Castilla y León, Andalusia and the Community of Madrid.
Since their launch in 2018, these scholarships have financed 90 projects in 16 autonomous communities, with an endowment of more than 2.2 million euros. In Spain, more than 172,000 patients with hepatitis C have been treated, although more than 30% had advanced liver disease at the time of treatment, which shows the need to continue with microelimination strategies that allow earlier diagnoses.
With these initiatives, Gilead reinforces its commitment to innovation, collaboration with the scientific community and improving access to the diagnosis and treatment of liver diseases in Spain.
