Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the virus that causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), may not be heard about as much as it once was, but it remains a major health issue to this day. And drugmaker Gilead Sciences (GILD) is making progress on this front after revealing that its twice-yearly shot could be a major protective effort against HIV overall. As a result, shares gained over 2.5% in Thursday afternoon’s trading.
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This is the second large-scale study of lenacapavir, which is described as an “HIV prevention injectable drug.” It recently went into Phase Three testing, and the results presented so far suggest that an approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should not be far behind.
The study in question found that 99.9% of the 2,180 people who used lenacapavir did not develop HIV during the study. Only two users in the pool actually did. The study took elements from pretty much every part of sexual society, ranging from cisgender and transgender men to transgender women and non-binary participants. By way of comparison, Gilead’s older protective version, Truvada, yielded nine cases of HIV in 1,000 participants. Thus, lenacapavir is a significantly better protective measure than Truvada.
Less Good News Elsewhere
However, the news was not always as good. For instance, testing of Trodelvy has proven disappointing, with the lung cancer treatment proving less than effective following two failed trials. A new version that features Trodelvy hooked up with Keytruda from Merck (MRK) and chemotherapy did not produce much better results in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.
There may be better results, though, from a new partnership effort between Gilead and Genesis, a drug discovery operation that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to test its discoveries. Gilead put in $35 million for Genesis to do its work and has “…an option to nominate additional targets for a predetermined per-target fee.” Gilead will, in turn, land the development and commercialization rights to anything that actually works as a result of the arrangement.
Is Gilead a Good Stock to Buy Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on GILD stock based on 11 Buys and 10 Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After an 11.87% rally in its share price over the past year, the average GILD price target of $83.56 per share implies 0.75% upside potential.
