By Val Brickates Kennedy
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) said Tuesday that its earnings
climbed 20% in the first quarter, as the company marked strong
growth in sales of its drug products.
The developer of HIV drugs posted net income of $586.6 million,
or 63 cents a share, compared with $486.4 million, or 51 cents a
share, for the same quarter in 2008. Excluding various items,
Gilead would have reported adjusted earnings of 66 cents a
share.
Revenue rose 21% to $1.53 billion, up from $1.26 billion. The
company said that a stronger U.S. dollar pushed worldwide sales
down by about $22.3 million.
According to a survey of analysts by FactSet, Gilead was seen as
posting earnings of 59 cents a share, on revenue of $1.5
billion.
The company said sales of Truvada, which contains the Gilead
drug Viread, jumped 23% to $590.4 million. Atripla, which also
contains Viread, saw sales leap 57% to $509.9 million.
Analysts at J.P. Morgan said in a recent note that they expected
combined sales of Gilead's HIV drugs to rocket 30% to $1.25
billion.
In March, Gilead agreed to buy CV Therapeutics for $1.4 billion
in cash, trumping a previous offer by Japanese drug maker Astellas
Pharma. Gilead said the merger will allow it to expand further into
cardiology market.
Best known for its HIV drugs, which are also used to treat
hepatitis, Gilead also markets two cardiovascular drugs, Flolan and
Letairis. The products are used to treat pulmonary arterial
hypertension.
CV Therapeutics, meanwhile, has two cardiac products on the
market: Ranexa, for chronic angina, and Lexiscan, an agent used in
certain types of cardiac stress testing. The firm also has drug
candidates targeted at treating pulmonary illnesses and
diabetes.
The deal closed on April 17.
Shares of Gilead were up 3.4% to $45.22 in after-hours
trading.
-Val Brickates Kennedy; 415-439-6400;
AskNewswires@dowjones.com