Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

GILD/JNJ...surprise to anyone?

Not a big surprise, IMO. Please see #msg-37680683, which is called, “The New Battle Lines in HIV.” I ranked JNJ’s TMC278 as the second most prominent candidate to replace Sustiva in a new Atripla-like all-in-one qD pill (ranking behind only GILD’s own Elvitegravir/Quadro).

After today’s deal with JNJ, GILD now has two ways to win in the race to supersede Atripla, and the TMC278 program moves into first place by virtue of its being in phase-3, while GILD’s Quadro is only in phase-2. (Standalone Elvitegravir—i.e. Elvitegravir without GILD’s PK-booster called GS9350—is in phase-3, but it isn’t suitable for an Atripla-like combination because it is dosed BID rather than qD.)