Nomura's Takeaways From Meeting With Gilead Sciences' Management

Ian Somaiya of Nomura on Friday reiterated a Buy rating on shares of

with a $146 price target following a meeting with the company's management team. Somaiya notes that additional insight was gained into: 1) HCV pricing and payor negations, 2) potential changes in treatment dynamics, 3) capital allocation, and 4) early stage pipeline including NASH and HBV. “Overall, we believe barriers to access of HCV drugs will likely decline in 2015, with most plans opting to provide access to both drugs,” Somaiya wrote. “We believe the biggest risk remains annual number of patients the market can treat. While Gilead believes market is capable of treating 250,000 plus patients, reaching that level remains contingent on the degree to which payors open the system.” The analyst adds that despite the risk, potential upside exists in Europe, where certain markets have established dedicated funds for HCV.