Prognosis
Gilead Caught Between Making a Profit and Treating the World
- Drugmaker appears near approval for its Covid-19 treatment
- Company may spend $1 billion on drug this year, sales unknown
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Gilead Sciences Inc. may spend $1 billion on its breakthrough new treatment for Covid-19 this year alone, Chief Executive Officer Daniel O’Day said. How much revenue -- if any -- the company expects to generate is another matter.
Details from a U.S. government study and a separate trial conducted by the company itself suggest remdesivir may become the first medication approved to treat the novel coronavirus, which has sickened 3.2 million people worldwide and killed 233,000. Gilead is still in the early stages of developing and getting approvals for the medication to treat the pathogen, which first emerged in China less than six months ago.