Gilead Jumps up 2 dollars a share on Outlook

Gilead Sciences Shares Rise Following Analysts' Positive Outlook for HIV Products, Pipeline

NEW YORK -- Shares of biotechnology company Gilead Sciences Inc. jumped Tuesday following positive sentiment from several analysts citing the company's development pipeline and HIV treatments.
The stock gained $2.63, or 3.7 percent, to reach $73.40 on the Nasdaq Stock Market in afternoon trading. Shares have traded between $52.55 and $74.97 over the last 52 weeks.

The company is attending Lehman Brothers 10th annual global health care conference in Miami this week. Earlier this month, Gilead said its developing HIV treatment GS-9137 met its goal in a mid-stage study.

Merrill Lynch analyst Eric Ende upgraded the company to "Buy" from "Neutral" and set a price target of $91 Tuesday, citing the company's products and upcoming launches.

"We view Gilead's HIV franchise as solid with a relatively low risk of disappointments because the drugs are standard of care and unlikely to experience any serious competitive threats for the foreseeable future," he wrote in a note to investors.

Ende also expects the company to launch Ambrisentan, aimed at treating pulmonary arterial hypertension, in the middle of 2007. That drug could see sales of $1 billion, he said. Also, the company could launch Aztreonam for cystic fibrosis in the middle of 2008 and it could see peak sales between $400 million and $500 million.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Jason Kantor reaffirmed his "Outperform" rating and price target of $78, citing the company's outlook.

"Gilead has steadily gained share in U.S. HIV market with the launch of Atripla and the sustained market presence of Truvada," he wrote in a note to investors. "Not only do we expect continued steady growth in market share, but we are not aware of any potential competitive threats to Gilead in development." [That's huge!]

Kantor also increased his 2007 earnings per share estimates, citing higher-than-expected revenue from the company's HIV drugs. He is also including some anticipated sales of Ambrisentan, as he too expects a launch in the middle of 2007.

Atripla is a fixed-dose combination of three widely used antiretroviral drugs, to be taken in a single tablet once a day, alone or in combination with other antiretroviral products for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults. Atripla is the first fixed dose combination available in the United States to combine two different classes of antiviral drugs in a single pill. This “one-pill-once-a-day” product to treat HIV/AIDS combines the active ingredients of Sustiva (efavirenz) a Nonnucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor (NRTI), with Emtriva (emtricitabine) and Viread (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), two Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NRTIs). Emtriva and Viread are also available in a fixed dose combination known as Truvada.