Gilead Sciences shares soar after remdesivir drug shows promise against Covid-19

Gilead Sciences shares are soaring, up 16% in pre-market trading, with investors optimistic about the stock after its drug remdesivir has shown promise in treating patients with Covid-19.

In a report by Stat News, it mentioned how early impressions from a study at the University of Chicago Medicine showed that almost all severely ill patients treated with the drug rapidly recovered.

‘The best news is that most of our patients have already been discharged, which is great. We’ve only had two patients perish,’ Kathleen Mullane, an infectious disease specialist who is leading the clinical trials at the university hospital in Chicago, said in a video presentation.

Gilead Sciences closed on Thursday at $76 a share, with the stock trading at $89 in pre-market trading as of 12:10 (GMT) on Friday.

It is worth noting that recent clinical trials offer a limited account of the drug’s effectiveness in combating the virus, with similar trials being run at other institutions. Nevertheless, the results offer a glimmer of hope for investors.

‘What we can say at this stage is that we look forward to data from ongoing studies becoming available,’ Gilead Sciences said in a statement.

Mullane, despite her optimism about the early impressions from the study, admitted that it is still too soon to draw too many conclusions about the efficacy of the drug.

‘But certainly when we start [the] drug, we see fever curves falling,’ she said. ‘Fever is now not a requirement for people to go on trial, we do see when patients do come in with high fevers, they do [reduce] quite quickly.’

‘We have seen people come off ventilators a day after starting therapy. So, in that realm, overall our patients have done very well,’ she added.

Wall Street to open higher after success of new drug

Not only is Gilead Sciences shares expected to trade higher on Friday, but the broader market is on track for a higher opening too, as the prospect of a treatment for coronavirus that could help the global economy recover sooner served to boost investor sentiment.

In fact, S&P 500 futures are up more than 3% on Friday, supported by a rally in Asian stocks. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 and the European Stoxx 600 index are both up 3%.

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