Achillion: Initiating Coverage Background: Achillion is a small biotech focused on the development of a cure for Hepatitis C. It has several compounds in its pipeline, all unpartnered. The two leading products are next-generation protease inhibitors, ACH-1625 and ACH-2684, followed up by a duo of NS5A inhibitors, ACH-2928 and ACH-3102. There has been considerable M&A […]
GILD – Does Pharmasset Acquisition Make Gilead A Growth Company Again?
Does Acquisition Of Pharmasset Make Gilead A Growth Stock Again? Gilead stock has been stagnant for years as growth in its core HIV franchise has slowed. Acquisitions out designed to diversify the company’s pipeline have met with only modest success. Attempts to move quickly into cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases have been disappointing. More recently, Gilead […]
VRUS – Pharmasset Stock Falling- How To Play It
Pharmasset Stock Falling- How to Play It Pharmasset (VRUS) stock has fallen steadily since November 21st when the company announced it had decided to sell itself to Gilead (GILD) for $137 per share in cash. After hitting a high of $135, the stock has subsequently drifted down to $128.89. This leaves a substantial 6% arbitrage […]
GILD – Gilead To Acquire Pharmasset For $11 Billion
Gilead To Acquire Pharmasset For $11 Billion Gilead has agreed to buy HCV drug developer Pharmasset Inc. for $11 billion in cash. The deal calls for payment of $137 per share, and represents an 89% premium to its Friday closing price. Gilead, a titan in the HIV space, has seen its shares stagnate in recent […]
Is Pharmasset The Next Gilead?
The HCV landscape is looking eerily similar to that of HIV treatments at its infancy, with a few differences. While the development of drugs for HIV took off quickly after identification of the disease, only now are truly effective therapies coming to market for HCV, led by pioneering work from Vertex. HIV drug development was […]
Where Is Lilly In The PI3K Race?
Some 15 years ago, scientists at Eli Lilly discovered the first PI3kinase inhibitor, code name LY294002. Although only of modest potency and selectivity, it became widely used by the research community as a tool compound to elucidate the PI3K pathway. In recent years, the field has taken off with compounds in development for oncology and […]
Gilead Is On A Roll
It appears the tide is finally turning for Gilead Pharmaceuticals. After hitting a 52-week low of $31.76 in late August 2010, it has since rallied 30% to reach $41.30 on news of successful Phase III trials of its integrase inhibitor, though that is still well below the stock’s $48.44 high from March last year. Gilead […]
Gilead Continues Move Into Oncology With Calistoga Acquisition
What a change a decade makes. Back in 2001, Gilead was a high-flying biotech, in the early legs of its growth projectory. Management at the time was laser focused on the company’s HIV franchise, deciding to sell its oncology assets to a little company called OSI Pharmaceuticals for $200 million. Since then, Gilead has grown […]
Gilead: Undervalued
Jason Chew Gilead’s stock has been in a funk. In the last three months, it has dropped 24% from about $46/share to about $35/share, this compares to a 15% drop for the Biotech HOLDERs index. It now has a PE of 11.1, lower than Pfizer, Novartis, and Sanofi Aventis, while having far higher growth and […]
