Dallas, Texas 12/27/2013 (FINANCIALSTRENDS) – Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) is an S&P 500 index tracked biotech firm which has managed to garner market cap of $115 billion over the years. Last week, the drug maker came out with results from its phase three clinical trials for its target drug which is being designed to tackle Hepatitis C. This drug being developed is to be administered in the form of tablets and the positive results are expected to further heat up the already in progress race among major drug manufacturers to develop a drug which can be administered orally to treat the debilitating Hepatitis C.
The results announced by Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) from its phase three trials have borne out a more than 90 percent success rate in curing hepatitis C ailment in candidates during a 8 week treatment schedule. The drug maker also disclosed that to derive these results, its researchers did not resort to any injection based interventions in the form of interferon or ribavirin.
Independent analyst and market watchers have hailed the results and have started to predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) competition will struggle to come up with their own versions of the drug which will compete against this wonder drug.
Geoffrey Porges who is an analyst for Sanford Bernstein has been quoted to have expressed his bullishness about the stock by saying that, “The results certainly raise the bar and dim the outlook for competitors such as AbbVie, Bristol-Myers and Boehringer Ingelheim. The new data could spell the end of ribavirin use and greatly expand the number of people seeking treatment for Hepatitis C.”
Porges goes on to predict that the drug maker will be looking at a sales bonanza of close to $16 billion in two years once the drug gets approved and is expected to stabilize at $6.8 billion by 2020.