Gilead Pops After Coronavirus Drug Helps Cruise Ship Patients In Japan ALLISON GATLIN 04:32 PM ET 03/13/2020 Shares of GILD stock popped Friday on reportedly promising results for its experimental coronavirus treatment in 14 Americans hospitalized in Japan. The results are some of the earliest for Gilead Sciences' (GILD) remdesivir, an antiviral that was previously under testing for Ebola virus. Now, the biotech company is hoping to use it to treat Covid-19, a form of coronavirus discovered in December in China. According to the Wall Street Journal, 14 Americans aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship who contracted Covid-19 were given remdesivir intravenously once a day for 10 days. As of Friday, all 14 were still alive and more than half had recovered. Five remain critically ill, Rear Adm. Richard Childs, an assistant surgeon general and lung specialist at the National Institutes of Health, reportedly said. The average age of the 14 patients is 75 and all of them were critically ill. The news sent GILD stock airborne Friday. "Many of them were probably going to die in a short amount of time, and two weeks later nobody has died and more than half of them have recovered," he said. "It's just absolutely amazing. It's going to take us a while to figure out what the impact of the drug has been." GILD Stock Rises On Coronavirus Treatment On the stock market today, GILD stock jumped 3.2%, to 70.75. The biotech stock has been volatile as it seeks a coronavirus treatment. Meanwhile, a broader coronavirus correction has slammed the stock market. Many are pinning their hopes for Covid-19 treatment on remdesivir. Tests of the potential coronavirus treatment are ongoing in China, Japan and the U.S. Amid the broad correction, GILD stock also has a Relative Strength Rating of 92, putting its stock performance in the top 8% of all stocks. The Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan on Feb. 4 after officials learned a prior passenger tested positive for Covid-19. The following morning, 10 people on the ship tested positive for the new form of coronavirus, according to Business Insider. Despite a month-long quarantine, by late February, 705 people — out of more than 3,000 crew members and guests — tested positive for Covid-19, Japan's Ministry of Health said in a news release. Treating Covid-19 With Antiviral Drug NIH lung specialist Childs arrived in Japan on Feb. 16. Of 50 Americans hospitalized in Japan, 14 were selected to receive Gilead's experimental coronavirus treatment based on their medical histories. Three Japanese patients also qualified. All 17 patients are still alive, the Journal said. Representatives from NIH didn't return requests for comment from Investor's Business Daily. In an email to IBD, Gilead confirmed the U.S. government is helping it coordinate with local authorities in Japan to use remdesivir "due to the unprecedented burden of patients associated with local transmission as well as the Diamond Princess cruise ship." Shares of GILD stock touched a two-year high last week on excitement for the potential of remdesivir in coronavirus treatment.
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