⁍ Gilead Sciences Inc cut its 2020 revenue forecast, citing lower-than-expected demand and difficulty in predicting sales of remdesivir.

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⁍ Remdesivir is the only treatment approved in the United States for patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

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⁍ Remdesivir is authorized or approved for use in more than 50 other countries around the world.

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– President Trump received the only US approval for remdesivir, a drug used to treat severe cases of HIV in hospitalized patients, during his recent bout with the virus. But sales of the drug, which is also used in more than 50 other countries, have been disappointing. Gilead Sciences on Wednesday cut its 2020 revenue forecast, citing lower-than-expected demand and difficulty in predicting sales of remdesivir, the only treatment approved in the United States for patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Remdesivir brought in $873 million in the quarter, below analysts’ estimates of $960 million, per Reuters. Gilead Chief Commercial Officer Johanna Mercier said that although the United States saw a surge in COVID-19 cases over the summer, many were younger people and hospitalization rates actually dropped. “Our assumption is in light of the surge this fall both in Europe and the US, those numbers will pop back up,” she said. Gilead lowered the top end of its full-year sales forecast to $23.5 billion, which is below Wall Street estimates of $24.1 billion. The company had previously forecast 2020 sales as high as $25 billion. “The revision in guidance is tied, not entirely, but almost entirely to expectations around Veklury,” Gilead Chief Financial Officer Andrew Dickinson said, using the brand name for remdesivir. “There was less demand in the third quarter than expected.” Remdesivir is authorized or approved for use in more than 50 other countries around the world. Gilead said some sales recorded in the third quarter are being held in inventory for government stockpiling purposes.