Biotech Values

[ghmm]

Gilead HCV "cure" vs. Gene Therapy "cure"

Adam Feuerstein wrote this article about the risk in curing a disease and then made a passing comp to Gene Therapy.

Gilead Hepatitis C Meltdown Raises Troubling Question: Is Curing Disease Bad for Business?
https://www.thestreet.com/story/13994794/1/gilead-hepatitis-c-meltdown-raises-troubling-question-is-curing-disease-bad-for-business.html

I would agree with this quote more then the headline

Maybe, it's fairer to say curing disease can be great for business -- until it's not.

The article underestimates the impact of competition and also would Gilead HCV revenues been so high had they not been "curing" HCV?

But as a GT investor my disagreement is more with the comparison to GT where I believe there are several notable differences some of which include:
1-Its quite unlikely uptake will be as fast with the novelty and "risk" (perceived or actual) of Gene Therapy.
2-A vast majority of GT's being developed are for rare diseases. Most with genetic components this should result in a steady stream of new patients.
3-Gene therapy is still in its infancy. Durability is unknown though many suspect its in the ~10 year range. Also the magnitude of treatment efficacy is far from "cure" (with few possible exceptions).