After a year marked by Gilead's oncology push and an ongoing focus on CAR-T therapies, CEO Daniel O’Day collected his largest total compensation package since the year he arrived at the California-based drugmaker.
Totaling $22.6 million, O'Day's 2023 compensation package marks the latest in a steady stream of annual compensation increases for O’Day, according to a recent SEC filing. The payout represented a 4.6% jump from his 2022 total pay of $21.6 million.
Breaking down O’Day’s pay package, the CEO’s base salary came to $1.74 million last year, a 2.9% increase. O'Day nabbed $11.86 million in stock awards and $3.75 million in option awards as well. The company handed its CEO a $4 million bonus plus $1.21 million in “other compensation."
O’Day’s compensation is based on the company’s performance as a whole, Gilead explained in the filing. For 2023, Gilead highlighted its continued leadership in HIV, with Biktarvy maintaining its reign as the No. 1 prescribed regimen in the U.S.
In oncology, an emerging area of focus for Gilead, Trodelvy revenues jumped 56% from 2022 to $1.1 billion. The company’s cell therapies Yescarta and Tecartus also contributed to Gilead's $3 billion in oncology sales, which made up 11% of the company's 2023 total.
All in all, Gilead surpassed its initial 2023 guidance of between $26 billion and $26.5 billion, hitting $26.9 billion in total.
O'Day's boost in total pay marks the latest in several years of recent compensation increases for the helmsman.
Back in 2021, the chief nabbed a $19.2 million pay package, following $19 million from 2020. His payout after his first year with the company, 2019, remains the largest at $29.1 million, representing a hefty reward he joined from Roche.
Besides the CEO, the majority of the Gilead executive team took a slight pay cut in total compensation last year, despite an increase in base salaries for each officer.
Chief medical officer Merdad Parsey, M.D., Ph.D., netted a total compensation package worth $8.38 million compared to $9.03 million in 2022. Chief commercial officer Johanna Mercier’s compensation similarly fell to $8.58 million after her 2022 total of $9.23 million.
Chief financial officer Andrew Dickinson collected a total of $8.1 million in a slight year-over-year decline, too.
O’Day’s 2023 compensation falls roughly in line with other large drugmakers that have so far reported executive pay figures. Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla and Moderna’s chief Stéphane Bancel each took pay cuts after “transition years” for their companies, collecting $21.6 million and $18.5 million, respectively.
AstraZeneca’s Pascal Soriot, meanwhile, scored a $21.3 million pay package while Johnson & Johnson’s Joaquin Duato’s total of $28.4 million makes him the top 2023 earner among drugmakers that have disclosed their executive pay numbers so far.