Gilead shares jump on drug report

Gilead

Shares of Gilead Sciences jumped on reports that one of its drugs is being tested to combat the coronavirus. The Wall Street Journal reported that Gilead Sciences said that it had provided doses of an experimental antiviral drug to doctors for the emergency treatment of a small number of patients infected by the new coronavirus. Gilead also has formalized an agreement with Chinese authorities to conduct a clinical trial of its drug Remdesivir, in patients infected with the coronavirus.

Remdesivir isn’t licensed or approved inside or outside the U.S. Unapproved drugs are sometimes put into use or in testing in emergencies. Separately, the drug was administered to an infected patient in Washington state, researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine on Friday. The man’s condition improved markedly. Shares of Gilead, which is based in Foster City, California, jumped 5% Monday.

AP