Gilead up 3% ahead of expected COVID-19 drug data readout

Evercore ISI’s Umer Raffat says that preliminary data from a China-based study of Gilead Sciences’ (GILD +3.4%) remdesivir for the potential treatment of COVID-19 could be available this month, ahead of the expected release in April. The study began in early February at Wuhan’s Jinyintan Hospital, in the epicenter of the outbreak.

Health experts believe that the antiviral will show sufficient efficacy to warrant widespread deployment in an effort to corral the outbreak. A little over a month ago, the first confirmed case in the U.S., a man in Seattle, responded well to treatment. All symptoms, except his cough, resolved within a week.

Remdesivir (GS-5734), a nucleotide prodrug that blocks a key enzyme needed for viral replication, is also being developed for Ebola virus infection.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3549482-gilead-up-3-ahead-of-expected-covidminus-19-drug-data-readout