Health and Healthcare
What the AbbVie and Express Script Deal Means for Gilead
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AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its hepatitis C drug last Friday, and the drug will directly compete with treatments from Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD). However, Monday morning brought some bad news for Gilead as AbbVie and Express Scripts Holding Co. (NASDAQ: ESRX) entered into an exclusive agreement under which Express Scripts will provide AbbVie’s hepatitis treatment, taking the place of Gilead’s treatment.
The agreement will go into effect on January 1, 2015. It is also worth noting that Express Scripts is the largest pharmacy benefits manager in the United States.
Gilead has two methods of treatment, Harvoni and Sovaldi. Treatment with Harvoni is slightly more expensive than Sovaldi, but there is a distinct advantage in that it does not require supplemental treatment to deal with the effects of Sovaldi, making it more attractive. Harvoni treatment costs in the area of $94,000 for a 12-week period, compared to the costs of Sovaldi treatment of roughly $84,000.
The expensive nature of Gilead’s treatment was seen in its most recent quarterly earnings report, as it seems patients might be looking for lower cost alternatives. In the previous quarter, Gilead posted a strong beat on earnings due to the production and sales of its Sovaldi. The sales from this drug in the third quarter fell to $2.79 billion, compared to $3.48 billion in the second quarter.
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This deal was originally pursued by Express Scripts because it disagreed with the high costs in providing Gilead’s treatment. AbbVie and Express Scripts reached an agreement in which the price for the treatment will be lowered in exchange for the latter being the only provider of the hepatitis C treatment. Both treatments are comparable, with similar efficacy, cure rates above 90% and minimal side effects.
Most complaints for Gilead were because of the high prices, which many believed were unnecessary. Looking back to its quarterly earnings from July, it estimated its 2014 gross margin on product sales to be in the range of 85% to 88%. Some might say the company got greedy.
Shares of Gilead were down about 13% at $94.81 in the noon hour Monday. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $126.17 and a 52-week trading range of $63.50 to $116.83.
Shares of Express Scripts were up 1% at $81.93. The consensus analyst price target is $84.10, and the 52-week trading range is $64.64 to $85.72.
Shares of AbbVie were down 1% at $67.03. The consensus price target is $69.57, and shares have traded in a 52-week range of $45.50 to $70.76.
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