Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) jumped Friday. The biotech's stock leaped higher after an encouraging report by the science and medical news website STAT suggesting that Gilead's antiviral medication remdesivir may be effective at treating patients hospitalized with severe cases of COVID-19.
While the preliminary data shouldn't be taken as gospel by either patients or investors, these initial results are impressive nonetheless. In one trial by the University of Chicago Medicine, for instance, researchers reported that the vast majority of patients treated with remdesivir were discharged in less than a week, and only two patients died during the study.
"The best news is that most of our patients have already been discharged, which is great. We’ve only had two patients perish," University of Chicago infectious disease specialist Kathleen Mullane said.
The University of Chicago Medicine recruited 125 patients with the virus into Gilead’s two late-stage clinical trials, 113 of whom were severely ill. Gilead intends to enroll 4,000 people in its trials.
There are no proven therapies to treat COVID-19, which has infected more than 2.1 million worldwide and killed at least 142,148 as of Thursday night, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
U.S. health officials say producing a vaccine to prevent COVID-19 will take at least 12 to 18 months, making finding an effective drug treatment soon crucial.
President Donald Trump has touted Remdesivir and malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as "very exciting."
Shares in GILD rocketed $8.35, or 10.9%, to $84.89.
