Gilead Nonetheless Hungry For Offers as HIV Portfolio Grows, Veklury Crashes

Gilead will keep looking out for dealmaking alternatives throughout a variety of therapeutic fields, CFO Andrew Dickinson instructed buyers in the course of the pharma’s Q3 earnings name on Thursday.

“We’re actively taking a look at alternatives throughout the [business development] spectrum in all our areas of strategic pursuits,” Dickinson mentioned. “That features liver illnesses.” In February 2024, Gilead made a $4.3 billion play to amass CymaBay, a deal anchored by the biotech’s liver illness drug seladelpar. A couple of months later, the guess paid off when the FDA cleared the drug for main biliary cholangitis, for which it’s marketed as Livdelzi.

“We want to add extra therapies similar to Livdelzi,” Dickinson mentioned, noting that the pharma is constantly looking for “best-in-class therapies that serve sufferers.” Specifically, Gilead is wanting so as to add “late-stage derisked belongings” at a tempo of “each two to a few years at a minimal,” he continued.

Apart from liver illnesses, Gilead can also be actively scouting for potential offers in oncology, virology, immunology and cell remedy, Dickinson mentioned.

Gilead has but to report precise gross sales figures for Livdelzi, however has beforehand mentioned that the drug has confirmed to be a invaluable asset. In an announcement accompanying the pharma’s second quarter report, CEO Daniel O’Day named Livdelzi as one of many greatest contributors to the corporate’s “sturdy development.”

O’Day sang the same tune on Thursday’s name, touting 35% “sequential development” for Livdelzi, which he mentioned led to the “industrial outperformance” of the pharma’s liver illness franchise. Gilead’s hepatology line made $819 million in Q3, up from $733 million throughout the identical interval final yr.

Throughout its enterprise, Gilead recorded a 3% year-on-year improve for $7.8 billion in income. Product gross sales, however, dipped 2% to $7.3 billion, coming 1% below the consensus estimate. This dip was pushed, in line with analysts at BMO Capital Markets, by “extra pronounced demand declines in cell-therapy.” Earnings of the CAR T therapies Yescarta and Tecartus fell 12% and 10%, respectively, beneath expectations, in line with BMO.

Additionally contributing to Gilead’s blended Q3 was the COVID-19 drug Veklury, which crashed 60% year-over-year to $277 million. BMO famous the miss, which fell 24% beneath consensus estimates, and mentioned that COVID product gross sales may shift to the fourth quarter, the place the an infection cycle is anticipated to be later this yr. HIV remained Gilead’s strongest franchise, with gross sales ticking up 4% year-over-year to usher in $5.27 billion and beat forecasts by 1%. The pharma’s top-performing asset was the day by day HIV tablet Biktarvy, which grew 6% to make practically $3.7 billion.

The just lately accepted twice-yearly pre-exposure prophylaxis Yeztugo commanded a number of consideration in the course of the name. The drug made $39 million in its first industrial quarter, racking up $54 million in complete since touchdown available on the market. Gilead expects uptake to choose up within the coming quarters, with full-year gross sales hitting “round $150 million or so,” Chief Business Officer Johanna Mercier mentioned.

Total, Gilead narrowed its 2025 forecast. The pharma now expects to hit $28.4 billion to $28.7 billion in full-year product gross sales, up from earlier steerage of $28.3 billion to $28.7 billion.