Gilead Sciences: NASH Bridges…To What?

As investors contemplate what Gilead Sciences ( GILD ) may or may not say when it reports earnings next week, others are already looking for that elusive ingredient that could push its shares higher again. With the European Association for the Study of the Liver conference having passed, attention has turned to Gilead's non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, program. As we noted last September, NASH is a disease where fat gathers in the liver, and analysts at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey called it " one of the last untapped multi-billion dollar therapeutic areas " after Allergan ( AGN ) made two acquisitions in the space . And after perusing presentations from the EASL conference, BMO's M. Ian Somaiya and Andrew Lam contend Gilead's treatment NASH could be a very big deal. They explain: