However, at a cost of over $10,000 per year, ADAP can no longer afford to pay for this and other Gilead drugs without price relief," said Adam Ouderkirk, Bay Area Regional Director for AHF and a leader of the protest. "Given that Atripla is sold 'at cost' for $600 per year in developing countries, Gilead could lower the price significantly and still make a huge profit, yet it has not. We feel it is important to bring this message home to federal employees, as hard-hit government-funded programs like ADAP bare the brunt of Gilead's greed."With state budgets stretched thin and increasing numbers of unemployed workers without health insurance, many states have been forced to cap enrollment in their AIDS Drug Assistance Programs. Currently, there are nearly 8,600 individuals on waiting lists to receive lifesaving AIDS medications in thirteen states. Hundreds of patients in need are being added to the waiting list each week. In addition, thousands more Americans living with HIV/AIDS have been dropped from the program or made ineligible to receive medications through ADAP due to stricter eligibility requirements. Nationwide, ADAPs serve over 165,000 people, accounting for one third of people on AIDS treatment in the U.S. Unfortunately, the need for these programs expands every year, as more and more people become infected and diagnosed with HIV/AIDS; each year thousands of newly diagnosed HIV patients turn to ADAPs because they cannot afford their medicines. "Our intention with actions like this protest today is to encourage Gilead to reflect on its own remarkable mission and history as a very different sort of drug company," said Jessie Gruttadauria, AHF's Director of Public Affairs/Interim Director, Public Health Division.