A specialist in virology, Cihlář holds the positions of senior director, biology, and vice-president at American pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences.
As a student, Cihlář assisted fellow biochemist Antonín Holý in developing Viread, the primary drug used to fight HIV infection.
That same year, he traveled to the United States for a postdoctoral fellowship with Gilead Sciences, where as researcher he worked on the development of antiviral nucleotide analogs including tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, which, marketed as Viread, has become a primary drug in the fight against HIV infection.
Remdesivir briefly showed considerable promise in treating COVID-19 infection;[11] in April 2020 the company provided 5,000 doses for experimental use in China[12] and four hundred patients in 50 other countries.
[16] In October 2020, recognizing his involvement in the development of remdesivir, Czech president Miloš Zeman awarded Cihlář the country's Silver Medal of Merit.