Key dates for Triangle Pharmaceuticals and Gilead Sciences:

JULY 1995: David Barry, a former Burroughs Wellcome executive who helped discover AIDS treatment AZT, starts Triangle Pharmaceuticals.

SEPTEMBER 2001: Triangle Pharmaceuticals applies to the FDA to begin selling an experimental AIDS drug called Coviracil.

JANUARY 2002: Barry suffers a heart attack and dies suddenly while on business in California.

AUGUST 2002: Daniel Welch, former president of Elan Pharmaceuticals, is named chairman and chief executive officer of Triangle Pharmaceuticals.

DECEMBER 2002: Triangle Pharmaceuticals agrees to be acquired for $464 million by Gilead Sciences.

JULY 2003: Gilead wins regulatory approval for Triangle Pharmaceutical's Coviracil. The new HIV drug is renamed Emtriva.

AUGUST 2004: Gilead releases Truvada, a pill that combines its drugs Viread and Emtriva.

DECEMBER 2004: Gilead and Bristol-Myers Squibb form a joint venture to test and market a single pill combining Truvada and Bristol-Myers Squibb's Sustiva.

JANUARY 2006: A study commissioned by Gilead shows that a combination of Truvada and Sustiva works better and has fewer side effects than GlaxosmithKline's Combivir and Sustiva.

SUMMER 2006: Gilead and Bristol-Myers Squibb are scheduled to ask for regulatory approval of a pill that combines Truvada and Sustiva. The pill could become available as early as late 2006.

(N&O RESEARCH)