Gilead Sciences Reports Q3 2023 Financial Results

On November 7th, Gilead Sciences released its financial report for the third quarter of 2023 on its official website. The data revealed that the total sales for the quarter were nearly $7.1 billion, roughly in line with the same period last year. Excluding sales of the COVID-19 product, remdesivir, the sales increased by 5% compared to the previous year, reaching $6.4 billion. The total revenue for the first three quarters amounted to $20 billion, which was essentially flat compared to the same period last year.

The growth of Gilead's HIV and oncology businesses was largely offset by the decline in sales of remdesivir and the hepatitis combination products.

HIV and cell therapy as growth drivers

Growth of Gazyva (obinutuzumab) by 58%

Gilead's HIV products generated $4.7 billion in revenue in the third quarter, representing a 4% increase compared to the same period last year. The growth was primarily driven by Biktarvy (bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide), with revenues growing by 12% year-on-year, surpassing $3 billion. Descovy (emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide) saw a 2% increase in revenue.

Cell therapy also contributed to Gilead's profitability, with third-quarter revenues reaching $486 million, a 22% increase compared to the third quarter of 2022. Sales of Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel) for the treatment of large B-cell lymphoma increased by 23% to $391 million, while sales of Tecartus (brexucabtagene autoleucel) for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia reached $96 million, an 18% increase from the previous year.

Gilead's oncology product, Trodelvy (sacituzumab govitecan-hziy), also performed well in the third quarter, generating $283 million in revenue, a 58% increase compared to the same period last year. Trodelvy is the world's first approved ADC (antibody-drug conjugate) targeting TROP-2 and is used to treat adult patients with previously treated metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.

However, while Gilead's HIV, cancer, and cell therapy businesses experienced growth, its COVID-19 product, Veklury (remdesivir), saw a significant decline. In the third quarter, remdesivir generated $636 million in revenue, a 31% decrease compared to the same period last year. Gilead attributed this decline to lower hospitalization rates related to COVID-19.

Similarly, Gilead's hepatitis combination products (HCV/HBV/HDV) also experienced a 10% decline in revenue, generating only $706 million in the third quarter.

Abandoning COVID-19 products

Raised full-year performance guidance

In its Q3 report, Gilead also announced the discontinuation of the Phase III BIRCH trial of obelasvir in non-hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19. However, the OAKTREE III trial of obelasvir in non-hospitalized patients without severe COVID-19 risk factors is still ongoing.

Obelasvir is an upgraded version of remdesivir and can be administered orally to treat SARS-CoV-2 infections.

According to Gilead's press release, the decision to abandon BIRCH was due to lower-than-expected incidence rates of COVID-19 and related hospitalizations or all-cause mortality, rather than safety or efficacy issues.

In September, Gilead announced the termination of the Phase III clinical trial ENHANCE-2 for the CD47 antibody magrolimab in patients with TP53-mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML). This was the second Phase III clinical study of the drug that Gilead terminated. In July of this year, it halted the ENHANCE study for high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).

Despite these developments, considering the overall performance of its products in the third quarter, Gilead has revised its full-year performance guidance, raising the total sales forecast to $26.7-$26.9 billion, up from the previous range of $26.3-$26.7 billion.