Gilead Posts Profit, Revenue Declines

By Anne Steele 

Gilead Sciences Inc.'s sales of hepatitis C drugs Harvoni and Sovaldi continued to decline in the latest quarter, though sales of its cheaper Epclusa buoyed the top line above estimates.

Shares in the biopharmaceutical company, which faces challenges from rival drugs and pricing pressures, dropped 4.3% to $70 in after-hours trading Tuesday.

Gilead has been dominating the market for hepatitis C drugs, where prices for the costly medicines have decreased amid competition from rivals AbbVie Inc., maker of hepatitis C treatment Viekira Pak, and Merck & Co., maker of Zepatier.

During the period, Gilead reported Harvoni sales more than halved to $1.64 billion, while Sovaldi sales plunged to $541 million from $1.55 billion. Analysts had expected Harvoni sales of $1.61 billion and Sovaldi sales of $587 million, according to FactSet.

The declines were partly offset by sales of combination hepatitis C drug, Epclusa, which is priced lower than Harvoni and Sovaldi and generated sales of $1.05 billion in the latest quarter, compared with $640 million during the third quarter. Analysts expected Epclusa sales to reach $901 million, according to FactSet.

In all, Gilead posted a profit of $3.12 billion, or $2.34 a share, down from $4.68 billion, or $3.18 a share, a year earlier. Excluding acquisition-related impacts, stock-based compensation and other items, adjusted per-share earnings declined to $2.70 from $3.32. Revenue fell 14% to $7.32 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of $2.61 and revenue of $7.15 billion.

For 2017, the company anticipates product sales between $22.5 billion and $24.5 billion.

Write to Anne Steele at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 07, 2017 17:16 ET (22:16 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.