Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) (GILD)’s experimental HIV pill Quad, the new medicine from the world’s largest maker of AIDS drugs, gained a U.S. advisory panel’s backing to treat patients infected with the virus. The committee voted 13-1 in favor of approving the drug, a four-in-one combination pill from Foster City, California-based Gilead. Panel members said patients taking the medicine should undergo extra testing to monitor for kidney complications. The medicine is designed to have fewer side effects than current treatments. Approval of the Quad pill is crucial for Gilead and may generate $4 billion in peak annual sales, said Robyn Karnauskas, an analyst with Deutsche Bank AG in New York. The drugmaker is facing the loss of half of its revenue (GILD) from patent expirations on AIDS therapies starting in 2018.
