Gilead dips after data leak on virus drug
Gilead Sciences Inc. shares were whipsawed for the second time in a week after a summary of a Chinese trial of its COVID-19 drug appeared to show that it was a failure.
The synopsis, which the firm and a scientist working on the trial said didn’t fairly represent the actual results, saw Gilead’s shares close 4.3 per cent down to US$ 77.78 on Thursday in New York. The broader market fell as well, with the S& P 500 ending down 0.05 per cent.
Gilead’s drug, remdesivir, is one of the most closely- watched therapies of the dozens being developed and tested as a potential treatment for COVID-19 patients. The World Health Organization, which has been helping co- ordinate the global response to the virus, said it accidentally posted the results on a website that helps track therapies for the disease.
The summary was quickly removed, but details of the post were reported by the Financial Times and posted by the publication Stat. They showed that the drug wasn’t associated with patients getting better more quickly; and 13.9 per cent of patients getting the drug died, versus 12.8 per cent getting standard care.
Gilead’s stock has been sent swinging by incremental reports on the drug, as investors grasp for any sign of data that the company’s compound could be an effective therapy for COVID-19 patients. The shares surged 9.7 per cent on April 17 after a report that the drug appeared to have helped a group of Chicago patients who were part of a separate trial.
The drug company and a scientist involved in the trial disputed the characterizations of the result as an outright failure, however.
“That is not correct,” said Frederick Hayden, an infectious disease expert at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, when asked whether the results showed remdesivir had flopped. Hayden helped the Chinese doctors conduct the study. “My interpretation of them is not consistent with that headline.”
Gilead, in a statement, said the summary mischaracterizes the results of the study, which was stopped early after not enough patients could be found. A study with low enrolment can lead to results that are less conclusive. Hayden said there was a mistake in the original manuscript and that it had since been revised.
He said that the study was under review at a journal, which he would not identify. He declined further comment until the study was published.
Gilead, in its statement, said that “trends in the data suggest a potential benefit for remdesivir, particularly among patients treated early.”
In a followup statement, the company said the data “add to a growing but still inconclusive body of evidence for remdesivir.” It expects full results from two other, larger studies at the end of May.