Biotech Investors: Nomura Says To Watch These Dates

Nomura commented on Gilead Sciences, Inc. GILD and Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc ICPT Friday.

Analyst M. Ian Somaiya said that investors would be digesting competitive data from the European Association for the Study of Liver Disease (EASL) meeting on April 22-26 and would and await Q1 results on April 30 for GILD.

The analyst’s review of EASL abstracts suggested that improved hepatitis C (HCV) product offerings from AbbVie Inc ABBV and Merck & Co., Inc. MRK would “fall short of potential triplet from GILD, but concerns related to future pricing pressure remain.”

Somaiya believed “this dynamic could offset significant upside in 1Q15 HCV sales, as we continue to see a rotation of GILD’s investor base from growth to value.”

Somaiya added that the Genfit analyst event on April 24 was “unlikely to address lingering concerns about GFT505’s profile,” which would allow shares of  Intercept Pharmaceuticals “to continue to recover, with further upside when Phase III trial design is announced (2Q15).”

Gilead Sciences recently traded at $102.14, up 0.97 percent.

Intercept Pharmaceuticals recently traded at $276.75, up 1.8 percent.