Did Gilead’s anti-coronavirus drug work or flop in its Wuhan clinical trial? Wall Street analysts are divided in their assessment
- A report that showed that the drug had not made any significant difference in the fatality or improvement in patients was removed by the World Health Organisation
- Gilead and scientists involved in the trial dispute how the results should be interpreted. Now Wall Street analysts covering Gilead are weighing in
Gilead Sciences analysts offered a broad range of views on the inadvertently leaked abstract that indicated the company’s remdesivir failed to provide a benefit in a placebo-controlled trial in Chinese patients with severe Covid-19.
Sceptical analysts included Baird’s Brian Skorney, who said the negative results “should be very sobering” given the lack of an improvement and argued that the result is “pretty close to a worst-case scenario.” Others on Wall Street argued that investors should hold off on jumping to conclusions.
Mizuho analyst Salim Syed was quick to point out that there are “limitations” and negatives from the leaked results, though there are “no real positives at this stage.” He is looking forward to data from Gilead’s trial in severe Covid-19 patients, which are expected soon.
Here’s what analysts are saying about the update:
- Piper Sandler, Tyler Van Buren
“No one expected remdesivir to work in all patients, and antivirals are best when used early. The bottom line is that stating the trial flopped appears too aggressive and premature, particularly in light of Gilead’s comments.”