Gilead's HepC Drug Sales May Be More Resilient Than Feared

Investors are fearful the launch of Gilead's (NASDAQ: GILD) HepC franchise has been too “rapid,” which will cause the drug's market share to plateau and decline. There are also concerns of reimbursement headwinds in state Medicaid programs “as CO, PA, and Utah have decided against reimbursing for Sovaldi at the point,” Citigroup analyst Yaron Werber said.

Werber is not as concerned as “the launch is staggered globally,” which should provide “more resilience than feared.”

The analyst estimated HepC sales will total $7.5, $11, and $12 billion in 2014, ‘15 and ‘16, respectively, and expects sales to fall to $6.5 billion by 2023.

Werber has a Buy rating on the stock and $96 price target.

Shares of Gilead are up 0.86 percent to $74.29 in Wednesday's trading.