Gilead Q1 earnings call: COVID-19 headwinds modest to date

Highlights from today’s Q1 earnings call at Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD):

Content of call adjusted to allow more Q&A related to remdesivir.

CEO O’Day:

Very confident with HIV position (~61% share in U.S.).

Forty Seven acquisition example of its business development strategy.

Reviewed results from the two recent remdesivir studies. Plan to have 1.5M doses by the end of May. Entire existing supply will be donated for patients in need. Five-day regimen will increase availability.

CFO Dickinson:

$120M in expenses to be recorded this year related to Forty Seven deal.

$500M in debt repaid.

Cash flow should be strong.

COVID-19 disruptions: some effect seen late qtr. To date, though, the overall impact has been modest. Q2 revenues may be impacted. HIV switching may slow.

Enrollment in most clinical trials suspended.

Post-donation economic model for remdesivir unclear at present.

Q&A:

Jefferies’ Michael Yee: remdesivir revenue expectations? O’Day: premature to say. Production expenses could be allocated to COGS and/or R&D.

JPMorgan: oral/inhaled version of remdesivir? O’Day: focus on current formulation. Not appropriate for oral use. Subcutaneous or inhaled approaches being investigated.

RBC: any more data from NIAID study? allocation of remdesivir? CMO Parsey: have not seen any more data than already released. Primary patient population: severely ill patients on or candidates for ventilation therapy.

BofA: access model? Parsey: believes remdesivir has the best potency for COVID-19. Dickinson: in discussions with other companies to explore alternative supply chains, too early to comment further.

SVB Leerink: how will ROI in COVID compare to HIV and hepatitis? O’Day: uncertain, but pricing to be sensitive to patient needs.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3567384-gilead-q1-earnings-call-covidminus-19-headwinds-modest-to-date