Gilead's Sovaldi Usage Fades As Hep-C Patients Await Rivals

Investor's Business Daily

The dropout rate for patients on Gilead Sciences' hepatitis C treatment Sovaldi is quadruple what was seen during clinical trials, data showed Wednesday.

CVS Health (CVS) Research Institute researchers found that real-world use of Gilead's (GILD) blockbuster drug reflects an 8.1% discontinuation rate vs. an approximate 2% rate in trials.

The study also found that patients new to the hepatitis C treatment were less likely to complete the course of treatment, and that overall Sovaldi use has plateaued with a decline between May and August.

Shares fell 1% and are down 6% from a Sept. 3 high.

The CVS data added to concerns that Sovaldi sales are slowing because doctors and patients are waiting for Gilead's next version of the hepatitis C fighter to hit the market this fall as well as a treatment from AbbVie (ABBV) by year's end.

But such "warehousing" of patients is not as high as anticipated with Sovaldi prescriptions so far in Q3 tracking above estimates, FBR analyst Andrew Berens said Tuesday. He also lifted his Q3 Sovaldi sales forecast to $2.24 billion from $1.94 billion.

Meantime, Gilead is trying to expand access to the drug in developing countries and announced Monday it will license Sovaldi to Indian generic-drug manufacturers.

Also on Wednesday, Gilead released results from its study exploring whether simtuzumab combined with gemcitabine would benefit those with untreated advanced pancreatic cancer. Researchers found that the treatment "did not did not significantly increase progression-free survival" compared with the placebo combination.