Gilead Sciences Inc

Gilead Sciences Inc., a biotechnology company that sells drugs for AIDS and other infectious diseases, said profit jumped more than fivefold in the fourth quarter, lifted by sales of its HIV drug Viread and a tax-related gain. Net income rose to $192.6 million, or 85 cents a share, from $35.5 million, or 17 cents, in the quarter a year ago, the Foster City, Calif.-based company said. Sales climbed to $263.5 million from $145 million.

Gilead Sciences Inc.'s adefovir drug for hepatitis B won the backing of a Food and Drug Administration expert panel Tuesday. The advisory committee voted 15 to 0 to recommend that the FDA approve the medicine to treat the viral infection that may cause liver damage and death. Some panel members raised questions about whether patients on adefovir should be monitored for signs of liver and kidney damage.

Gilead Sciences Inc., the world's third-biggest biotechnology company, said Monday that it had agreed to acquire Myogen Inc. for $2.5 billion in a transaction that gives Gilead access to Myogen's experimental hypertension drugs. The deal -- the latest in a flurry of acquisitions in the drug sector -- represents a big bet for Foster City, Calif.-based Gilead, which mainly makes HIV drugs.

For the second time in 16 months, Food and Drug Administration officials have ordered Gilead Sciences Inc. to stop downplaying the risks and exaggerating the benefits of its hot-selling AIDS drug, Viread. In a warning letter to the biotechnology company, the FDA said Gilead sales representatives repeatedly violated regulations at an AIDS conference in Miami this year by making false and misleading statements about Viread and making no mention of the "serious risks associated with the drug."

Swiss drug maker Roche Holding said Wednesday that it had ended a dispute with U.S. biotechnology company Gilead Sciences Inc. over the manufacture of Tamiflu in what they said was a joint effort to build up inventories of the drug in the face of a threatened flu pandemic. Roche will pay Gilead $62.5 million in retroactive royalty adjustments.

Gilead Sciences Inc. reported a first-quarter loss Wednesday as charges related to an acquisition swamped better-than-expected sales of its HIV drug Viread. Meanwhile, another biotech company, Chiron Corp. of Emeryville, Calif., said it swung to a profit in the first quarter on higher sales of its blood-testing equipment. Gilead, based in Foster City, Calif., reported a net loss of $438.1 million, or $2.21 a share, compared with a loss of $3.9 million, or 2 cents, in the same period a year ago.

Gilead Sciences Inc.'s second-quarter revenue jumped 34% on strong sales of drugs for hepatitis and AIDS, the company said Thursday. Net income rose 11% to $111.5 million, or 49 cents a share, from $100.4 million, or 46 cents, a year earlier. Revenue climbed to $319.7 million from $238.9 million. The Foster City, Calif.-based company blew away Wall Street's forecast of 35 cents a share, according to a survey by Thomson First Call.

Gilead Sciences Inc. said Tuesday that first-quarter profit climbed 37% as more doctors prescribed the company's newest product, Truvada, an AIDS pill that combines two older Gilead drugs. Net income rose to $157.1 million, or 34 cents a share, from $114.4 million, or 25 cents, a year earlier, the Foster City, Calif.-based company said. Revenue jumped 39% to $430.4 million. The introduction of Truvada helped lift sales of Gilead's HIV treatments 47% to $301.

Drug maker Gilead Sciences Inc. today will announce plans to sell its top HIV drug to 68 poor nations at cost, or about one-tenth of its usual price, in a move applauded by AIDS activists. Other drug companies have offered similar low-cost AIDS drug programs. But Charles Farthing, chief of medicine for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, applauded Gilead's plan because Viread is a relatively new AIDS drug that can also be used to treat hepatitis B.

Gilead Sciences Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. announced Monday that they would collaborate on developing the first all-in-one, once-a-day pill to treat HIV infection -- a long-sought goal that would make it much easier for patients to stick with their medication. Currently, the best treatment for acquired immune deficiency syndrome requires patients to take two to four pills a day.