Gilead Reports Q2 2020 Financial Results: Revenue Down 10%, Net Loss of $3.3 Billion

Compiled by Keke

Although Gilead Sciences saw its reputation soar in 2020 due to remdesivir and promptly launched the product in the U.S., Japanese, and European markets between May and June, the company’s sales revenue in the most recent quarter was still impacted by the pandemic, registering a double-digit decline.

On July 30, local time, Gilead Sciences announced its financial and operational results for the second quarter (Q2) and first half of 2020. Total revenues for Q2 and the first half were $5.1 billion and $10.7 billion, respectively, representing year-over-year declines of 10.5% and 2.7%. The company reported a net loss of $3.3 billion in Q2, compared to a net income of $1.88 billion in the same period last year.

Gilead stated that the net loss was primarily related to the acquisition of Forty Seven, Inc., as $4.5 billion in associated expenses were incurred during the acquisition process. The main reasons for the decline in total revenue included: a reduction in patient visits and screening volumes by healthcare providers due to the pandemic, which led to lower sales of "flow products" such as chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) medications; and the entry of generic drugs into the market in the first half of 2019, resulting in decreased sales of Letairis® (ambrisentan), a treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension, and Ranexa® (ranolazine), a medication for relieving chronic angina.

Meanwhile, Gilead’s core HIV business demonstrated potential demand growth. Although Truvada sales declined in the second quarter, patients continued to receive Biktarvy and Descovy for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Compared with revenues of $4 billion and $7.7 billion in the same period of 2019, HIV product sales in the second quarter of 2020 decreased by only 1%, while total first-half sales increased by 6% to $8.1 billion. The revenue growth in the first half was primarily driven by the underlying strengths of Gilead’s HIV franchise, particularly Biktarvy’s market share in the United States and Gilead’s overall share in the HIV sector.

Notably, sales of Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel) increased in both the second quarter and the first half of 2020, reaching $156 million and $296 million, respectively, representing year-over-year growth of 30% and 37%, primarily driven by the therapy’s continued market share expansion in Europe.

Furthermore, Gilead has made significant progress in building its R&D pipeline. In oncology, this includes Kite’s portfolio of cell therapy products and magrolimab, acquired through the purchase of Forty Seven; the latter is used in combination with azacitidine for the treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia. In HIV, Gilead is developing lenacapavir, a novel investigational HIV-1 capsid inhibitor, as a long-acting subcutaneous formulation to be used in combination with other antiretroviral agents for people living with HIV; evaluating the safety and efficacy of Biktarvy for the treatment of adults aged 65 and older with HIV; data from the DISCOVER trial indicated that sexual risk behaviors did not increase among patients using Descovy or Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP); and dose-dependent immune response data from vesatolimod, an investigational Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonist, have updated Gilead’s therapeutic research landscape.

In the field of inflammatory diseases, Gilead and Galapagos conducted the latest analysis of two clinical trials of the JAK inhibitor filgotinib for adult psoriatic arthritis; the positive effects of filgotinib in moderate to severe ulcerative colitis were evaluated. In July this year, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended filgotinib for the treatment of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis in adults who have had an inadequate response or intolerance to one or more disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.

In addition to advancing key initiatives for remdesivir, Gilead Sciences has continued to strengthen its presence in the field of immuno-oncology, including six immuno-oncology agreements reached this year. Recently, the U.S. FDA granted accelerated approval to Tecartus (brexucabtagene autoleucel), the first and only CAR-T cell therapy approved for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma.

Reference Source: Gilead Sciences Announces Second Quarter and First Half 2020 Financial Results