Gilead’s COVID-19 drug helps boost 2nd-quarter results as HIV sales dip

Gilead Chief Commercial Officer Johanna Mercier on a conference call with analysts said HIV sales in Europe have begun to recover, but US demand has been slower. “It is clear that it will take several quarters for treatment to return to pre-pandemic levels,” she said.

Gilead shares, which closed at $69.83, were down more than 2 per cent in extended trading. Gilead reported adjusted quarterly earnings of $1.87 per share, beating Wall Street expectations by 12 cents.

The biotechnology company’s total revenue for the quarter rose 21 per cent from a year earlier to $6.2 billion, slightly higher than the average analyst estimate of $6.07 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

The results were “driven by in-line performance of their core products and strength in Veklury, demonstrating the ability of their portfolio mix to hedge against any COVID-related headwinds. Oncology and hepatitis C businesses were encouragingly solid,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams said in a research note.

Sales of Veklury, known chemically as Remdesivir, totalled $829 million for the quarter, easily topping Wall Street estimates of $675 million. Gilead said Veklury sales would continue to be subject to uncertainty since they are tightly linked to COVID-19 hospitalization rates. The company also said it was no longer pursuing the development of an inhaled version of the drug for
COVID-19.

Chief Executive Daniel O’Day said Veklury, given intravenously to hospitalized patients, is effective against all known variants of the coronavirus, adding that the company continues to develop other pipeline products for treating COVID-19 outside of a hospital setting.

Sales of Gilead’s hepatitis C drugs bounced back in the quarter, rising 23 per cent to $549 million. For full-year 2021, Gilead narrowed its forecast for adjusted earnings per share to $6.90 to $7.25 from its prior projection of $6.75 to $7.45. The company said it now expects product sales for the year of $24.4 billion to $25 billion, compared with a previous estimate of $23.7 billion to $25.1 billion.