Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press - Tuesday August 1, 2000
The Foster City, Calif.-based company's stock was up 10-7/8 at 85 in the late afternoon on Nasdaq.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq's index of biotech stocks was up nearly 5 percent late Tuesday afternoon.
"They had a pretty good quarter. They kept expenses down and revenues were in line. Their pipeline is developing and their flu drug is likely to be the drug of choice during the upcoming flu season," said Albert Rauch, an analyst at First Union Securities.
Last week, Gilead reported a second-quarter net loss of $4.2 million, or 9 cents a share, on revenues of $50 million, compared with a net loss of $11.7 million, or 28 cents a share, on revenues of $43.5 million, for the same 1999 quarter. "The revenues are up and they are likely to see profits sooner than some people had thought," Rauch said.
Last October, Gilead and co-developer Roche Holding Ltd. received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for sales of Tamiflu, the first pill to treat the most common strains of influenza.
The drug is approved for use in adults, and the companies have applied to the FDA for use of Tamiflu in other indications including treatment of flu in children.
"Last year's flu season was pretty weak and people lost interest in Tamiflu," Rauch said. But the drug's pill form, the fact that this year's dominant flu strain is unlikely to be a repeat of the one seen for the past two years, a warning from the FDA of a flu vaccine shortage and a caution from the regulatory agency that a competing flu treatment should not be used by people with pulmonary problems could mean strong demand for Tamiflu, the analyst said.
Last month, the FDA told Glaxo Wellcome Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: GLXO.L) to strengthen warning labels on its inhaled flu drug Relenza following serious breathing problems that the agency said may be linked to the drug. Gilead's other potential commercial products include tenofovir disoproxil fumarate for HIV and adefovir dipivoxil for hepatitis B, both of which are in Phase III clinical development.
Tenofovir belongs to a new class of medicines called nucleotide analogues, which are designed to block reverse transcriptase, an enzyme the HIV virus -- the causes of AIDS -- needs to replicate.
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