If Gilead Sciences
Product sales were up 15% in the second quarter, which would be acceptable -- downright ecstatic -- coming from a large pharmaceutical company like Pfizer
Sales of Atripla, its No. 1 selling product, were up 26%, but it has to share revenue with Bristol-Myers Squibb
So where's the next boost going to come from? The key products to watch in Gilead's pipeline are a four-in-one pill referred to as the quad pill and a three-in-one pill that combines Gilead's Truvada with Johnson & Johnson's
There's also the potential for Gilead to buy its way into future growth. The cash-producing machine used some of its stash to buy back shares last quarter, but there's still plenty left to expand externally.
Gilead is fairly cheap, as are many of the midsized biotechs, and maybe that's the reason its shares seem to be holding up OK today despite the disappointing quarter. But in order to return to the highs seen in 2008, the company needs to show investors that it can reaccelerate its growth.
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