John Bilello | Senior Director, Biology
Gilead Sciences

John Bilello leads the Respiratory and Emerging Viruses group at Gilead Sciences, Inc., focusing on coronavirus antiviral drug discovery in addition to advancing other respiratory virus programs to the clinic. Dr. Bilello supervised the establishment of two successive BSL3 labs at Gilead to address immediate responses to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and prepare for future drug discovery needs for higher containment pathogens. Prior to coming to Gilead, Dr. Bilello served as a Principal Scientist within the Infectious Diseases department at Merck, West Point, PA. There, he led discovery teams to evaluate HCV preclinical compounds to Phase I; the implementation of novel antiviral programs for respiratory and emerging viruses; and novel vaccine adjuvant discovery activities that resulted in clinical-stage programs. Dr. Bilello began his industry career at Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., leading programs and conducting studies on multiple classes of HCV direct antiviral drugs during a fast-paced time prior to an approved therapy. These collaborative efforts contributed to 9 IND-stage drugs, of which 5 were clinically validated. His tenure at Idenix also included exploratory programs outside HCV and experience in business development as a scientific advisor. As a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School (Ronald Desrosiers) and Penn State University (Harriet Isom), Dr. Bilello, studied the basic biology and recombinant generation of multiple viruses, including rhesus herpesviruses, SIV, and baculoviruses, among others. Dr. Bilello’s virology experience spans over 15 diverse viruses, including those with DNA and RNA genomes. Dr. Bilello received his B.S. in Biochemistry at the University of Delaware and Ph.D. in Molecular Biology with a virology concentration from Penn State University. Dr. Bilello also attended two years of classes within a pharmaceutical chemistry program at the University of Florida.