BRIEF—Chinese institute files for patent on remdesivir

Researchers at China’s Wuhan Institute of Technology have reportedly applied for a Chinese patent for the use of Gilead Sciences antiviral candidate remdesivir as a treatment for coronavirus, potentially in combination with chloroquine.

On Monday, Gilead announced that its remdesivir, an unapproved anti-viral drug being developed for infectious diseases Ebola and SARS, was entering a trial in coronavirus in China’s city of Wuhan, the center of the coronavirus outbreak.

While it remains unclear if Chinese authorities will approve this patent, analysts at SVB Leerink Research are not surprised by this news report. They noted earlier this week, that believe China is “likely to produce any active antiviral in massive quantities regardless of Gilead’s IP” (see note  HERE).

The analysts continue to view the recent positive reaction in Gilead’s stock in response to this weekend’s remdesivir news as overdone. They have not included remdesivir in their revenue estimates and therefore do not expect this product to be a meaningful driver of value for Gilead shares.