On Thursday local time, the American biopharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences recently announced a major medical breakthrough: the HIV prevention drug Lenacapavir developed by the company achieved a 100% prevention effect in the key phase 3 clinical trials. The market responded enthusiastically to this news, with Gilead Sciences (GILD) soaring 8.46% to close at $68.49 per share and its market cap skyrocketing by $6.654 billion overnight (about RMB 48.3 billion) to a total of $85.328 billion. Analysts predict that the launch of Lenacapavir will greatly enhance the market appeal of preventive HIV drugs, with sales expected to peak at $2 billion.

Lenacapavir, the HIV prevention drug developed by Gilead, achieved a 100% prevention effect in the key phase 3 clinical trials.

The market reacted strongly to this news, with Gilead Sciences (GILD) soaring 8.46% to close at $68.49 per share and its market cap skyrocketing by $6.654 billion overnight (about RMB 48.3 billion) to a total of $85.328 billion. Analysts predict that the launch of Lenacapavir will greatly enhance the market appeal of preventive HIV drugs, with sales expected to peak at $2 billion.

Analysts predict that the launch of Lenacapavir will greatly enhance the market appeal of preventive HIV drugs, with sales expected to peak at $2 billion.

100% efficacy

The clinical trial, called "PURPOSE 1," assessed over 5300 women aged 16 to 25 in South Africa and Uganda, who were randomly assigned to receive Lenacapavir, Descovy, or Truvada as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV.

Among the 2134 women in the Lenacapavir injection group, no cases of HIV infection were recorded, compared to an incidence rate of 1.69 cases/100 person-years for daily oral Truvada and 2.02 cases/100 person-years for Descovy.

Lenacapavir's outstanding performance prompted the Independent Data Monitoring Committee to recommend that Gilead end the double-blind stage of the trial early and provide open-label treatment with the drug to all participants.

Dr. Merdad Parsey, Gilead's Chief Medical Officer, highly commends Lenacapavir's potential, and believes that its zero infection rate and perfect prevention effect suggest that it may become a powerful new tool for preventing HIV infection. He looks forward to the positive results that Gilead's ongoing PURPOSE project will bring and to helping the world fight against the HIV epidemic with this global strategy.

Dr. Linda-Gail Bekker, Director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Center at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, also praised the research findings of Lenacapavir. She believes that the twice-yearly injection schedule of Lenacapavir may help overcome some of the social barriers that some populations may encounter when using oral PrEP drugs, thus improving the compliance and continuity of preventive measures.

However, Gilead Sciences also faces the challenge of ensuring the accessibility of Lenacapavir globally, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The company has long been criticized for the high price of its HIV drugs. Gilead has said that it will share its global strategy for resolving drug access issues in HIV-prone countries.

Lenacapavir's breakthrough not only brings new options for HIV prevention, but also injects new impetus into the global fight against the HIV epidemic.

With the potential for possible regulatory approvals and market promotion in the future, Lenacapavir is expected to become an important tool in the global fight against HIV, providing more diversified prevention options for people with different needs and lifestyles.

Over the past three years, Gilead's stock price has cumulatively risen by 5.43% to $68.49, while the S&P 500 index has cumulatively risen by 28.18% over the same period. Compared to the latter, this has obviously been painful for investors, but in past bear markets, Gilead has provided a safe haven thanks to its stable HIV business.

In terms of performance, Gilead's total global revenue was $27.1 billion in 2023, slightly down from nearly $27.3 billion in 2022. Sales of Gilead's COVID-19 antiviral drug, Veklury (Remdesivir), plummeted 44% to $2.2 billion last year. Despite this decline, Gilead made up for it with growth in its HIV and oncology businesses, which grew by 6% and 37%, respectively.

Editor/ping