YORK, Feb 3 — Gilead Sciences Inc yesterday reported a higher-than-expected fourth-quarter profit driven by strong demand for its HIV and cancer drugs, while Covid-19 antiviral Veklury had sales that were double Wall Street estimates.
The US biotech company also forecast 2023 sales of US$26 billion to US$26.5 billion (RM110.4 billion to RM112.5 billion) ahead of analyst expectations of US$25.8 billion, and adjusted earnings of US$6.60 to US$7 per share. The midpoint of the earnings forecast is also above analysts’ estimates for US$6.73 per share.
Gilead shares rose 3.8 per cent to US$84.48 in extended trading.
Sales of Covid-19 treatment remdesivir, sold under the brand name Veklury, were US$1 billion, far beyond the US$511 million analysts had expected even as they slowed 26 per cent from the previous year.
While Veklury sales declined by about half in the United States and Europe as Covid hospitalisation rates fell, they tripled in other international markets.
Gilead Chief Commercial Officer Johanna Mercier said the company believes the model for the Covid-19 treatment is “quite sustainable moving forward.”
“It’s still the only antiviral indicated at the hospital level at this point,” Mercier said on a conference call with investors. “In many countries around the world, it is the treatment of choice when they decide to treat hospitalised patients.”
The company said adjusted profit rose to US$1.67 per share, ahead of analyst expectations of US$1.50, according to Refinitiv data, and up from 69 cents per share a year earlier, when it took US$1.85 billion in charges mostly for a legal settlement.
Quarterly revenue rose 2 per cent to US$7.4 billion, topping analysts’ estimates of US$6.64 billion.
Gilead’s HIV sales increased 5 per cent to US$4.8 billion in the quarter, with Biktarvy rising 15 per cent to US$2.9 billion versus the US$2.8 billion analysts expected.
Descovy sales rose 13 per cent to US$537 million, outstripping the analysts’ forecast of US$495 million.
Gilead’s cancer franchise also saw sales increase by 71 per cent to US$419 million. Yescarta, a CAR-T lymphoma treatment, booked US$337 million, while leukemia and lymphoma treatment Tecartus came in at US$82 million. — Reuters
