Boston, MA 06/12/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) saw a 4.1% fall in its stock price as the result of the announcement on June 9 of the deal by Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK). The deal involved a $3.85 billion acquisition of drug maker Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:IDIX) by Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK). This will allow Merck, to lay its hands over a drug that if combined with other two drugs can prove to be effective against Hepatitis C. The disease affects around 170 million people globally and has a market for around $20 billion.
The shares of Gilead has appreciated by around 49% in the last 12 months on the back of a successful launch and improving sales of Sovaldi, which is a treatment for Hepatitis C. The drug sales had broken all pharmaceutical sales records with just the first quarter sale exceeding $2 billion.
Upsetting the Insurers:
The insurers have been criticizing Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) for its high pricing of Sovaldi, that was leading to very high cost of medication i.e. the Sovaldi treatment costs $84000. Moreover, there are no controls on pricing of drugs in the U.S., and the popularity of Sovaldi is increasing its demand among patients making it a costly affair for insurers in the U.S.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Gilead claimed that the pricing of Sovaldi is such that it brings the cost almost equal to existing cost of medication under prior standards which involved numerous healthcare visits, additional cost of medications for side effects, etc. The spat between Gilead and the insurance companies is expected to put pricing pressure on Hepatitis C treatments by other drug makers, namely Merck & Co.
The Acquisition:
The recent acquisition by Merck is not only going to create competition for Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) but also lead to issues with intellectual property. That is because both the companies i.e. Merck & Idenix, have separately claimed right over the IP of Sovaldi, and the acquisition will make the case stronger as Merck can file a consolidated suit against Gilead for the intellectual property rights of Sovaldi.
