Gilead profit narrowly misses Street view

By Deena Beasley

Thu Apr 26, 2012 6:31pm EDT

Speaking on a conference call with investors and analysts, Gilead Chief Scientific Officer Norbert Bischofberger said the company could file for regulatory approval of the hepatitis C drug, called 7977, in certain patient populations as early as mid-2013.

He declined to comment on whether Gilead would consider further studies of 7977 in combination with another experimental oral drug from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY.N). The two-drug regimen was shown to be effective in a mid-stage trial earlier this month.

(Reuters) - Gilead Sciences Inc's (GILD.O) reported quarterly earnings that fell slightly short of Wall Street estimates as sales of its flagship HIV drugs rose nearly 20 percent but expenses also moved higher.
Gilead is the world's largest maker of branded drugs to treat the human immunodeficiency virus, but its near-term future is tightly linked to progress with the experimental hepatitis C drug acquired with its recent $11 billion buyout of Pharmasset.

"With sales strength reaffirming their HIV franchise and continued progress towards becoming an HCV (hepatitis C virus) leader, we believe Gilead shares are poised for appreciation," Wells Fargo analyst Brian Abrahams said in a research note.

Excluding $194 million in costs related to the Pharmasset deal, Gilead earned 91 cents a share in the first quarter, 2 cents short of the average Wall Street forecast, according to ISI Group.

"I think it was a fine, solid quarter," said Cowen & Co analyst Phil Nadeau. "The top line beat our estimates and the bottom line was a little light, but that seems to be due to a writedown of Greek debt.
Speaking on a conference call with investors and analysts, Gilead Chief Scientific Officer Norbert Bischofberger said the company could file for regulatory approval of the hepatitis C drug, called 7977, in certain patient populations as early as mid-2013.

He declined to comment on whether Gilead would consider further studies of 7977 in combination with another experimental oral drug from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY.N). The two-drug regimen was shown to be effective in a mid-stage trial earlier this month.

Gilead's first-quarter sales of HIV drug Atripla rose 19 percent to $887.6 million, exceeding the $851 million expected by analysts, according to numbers published by BMO Capital Markets. Gilead attributed the large uptick to increased buying from certain drug assistance programs funded by U.S. states.

Sales of older HIV drug Truvada rose 13 percent to $758.3 million, also ahead of analysts' estimate of $744 million.

Overall revenue rose 18 percent to $2.28 billion. Analysts expected $2.2 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Looking ahead, Gilead said it still expects full-year 2012 sales of $8.6 billion to $8.8 billion.
First-quarter research and development spending rose 80 percent to $458 million.
Including $194 million in acquisition-related expenses, Gilead's quarterly net profit fell to $442 million from $651.1 million a year earlier.

Shares of Gilead, which closed at $52.72 on the Nasdaq, were higher at $52.99 after hours.
(Reporting By Deena Beasley; Editing by Richard Chang, Gunna Dickson and Steve Orlofsky)