The pharma executive working to end HIV in our lifetime 2/26/26

The CNBC Changemakers and Power Players podcast features conversations with leaders shaping the future of business, policy, and culture. In this episode, CNBC's Julia Boorstin sits down with Johanna Mercier, Chief Commercial & Corporate Affairs Officer at Gilead Sciences and a 2026 CNBC Changemaker.

Mercier discusses Gilead's groundbreaking HIV prevention innovation (a twice-yearly injection with 99.9% efficacy) and how her team moved within months of U.S. approval to expand access across Sub-Saharan Africa, where the need is greatest. She shares why impact (not title) drives her leadership, how personal loss reshaped her sense of purpose, and what it takes to lead through global health crises.

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