Analyst Conference Summary

conference date: October 16, 2008 @ 1:30 PM Pacific Time
for quarter ending: September 30, 2008 (3rd quarter)

Forward-looking statements

Overview: Continued strong revenue and profit growth.

Basic data (GAAP) :

Revenues were $1.37 billion, up 7% sequentially from $1.28 billion and up 29% from $1.06 billion year-earlier.

Net income was $504 million, up 14% sequentially from $443 million and up 27% from $398 million year-earlier.

Earnings per share (EPS) were $0.52, up 13% sequentially from $0.46 and up 24% from $0.42 year-earlier.

Guidance:

Full year 2008 guidance: $4.9 to $5.0 billion in revenues, and believe on track to hit high end of that range. Tax rate reduced to 27 to 28% due to renewed R&D tax deduction.

Conference Highlights:

Growth was driven by antiviral franchise, particularly Atripla and Truvada. Disciplined management of expenses helped earnings. "The fundamentals of our business have never been stronger."

Intends to repurchase an additional $750 million of its stock.

Non-GAAP numbers: net income $534 million, EPS $0.55. Excludes $30 million in stock-based compensation. Gross margin 78.1%, down due to higher proportion of Atripla sales. 53.6% operating margin.

Product sales were $1.34 billion, up from $962 million year-earlier. Antiviral revenues were $1.23 billion. Royalty contract and other revenues decreased to $33 million from $97 million year-earlier, mainly because of decreased Tamiflu royalties of $9 million.

Cost of goods sold was $300 million. R&D $188 million. Selling, general and administrative $189 million, for total costs and expenses of $677 million. Leaving operating income of $694 million. Other income was $3 million. Income tax provision was $193 million.

Previously announced approvals and disapprovals of drugs by the FDA were reiterated, notably that aztreonam lysine for cystic fibrosis patients with pseudomonas aeruginosa will require further study. Viread was approved for treatment of chronic hepatitis B.

Cash and equivalents ended at $3.26 billion. Operating cash flows were $555 million.

There was a positive impact from currency exchange rates.

Antiviral revenue growth in Europe has been robust. Atripla is now available in 14 of the EU countries; last major nation needing approval is France.

Viread for hepatitis launch has resulted in revenues that are more than offsetting switching to other drugs for HIV.

Q&A:

What is your thinking about R&D as a % of revenues? Will continue to focus on getting the most out of each molecule for the money. This quarter R&D was 12.5% of revenue, and we think we can manage with that.

Will Q4 show similar growth rates as Q3? We are uncertain about currency fluctuations. We don't believe the growth drivers will change. We do sometimes have fluctuations in our non-retail buying, which is hard to predict.

HIV patient numbers? Overall was 550,000 patients on antivirals. 154K on Atripla. 192K on Truvada. Most naive patients are going straight to Atripla. In Europe Truvada is the majority share of the business, but that will change as Atripla rolls out.

Interest rate on cash balances? Varies, but ranged between 4 and 6%. Cannot predict 2009.

Truvada in U.S. surprise on upside? There is a lot of data on Truvada, so it is strongly positioned. It is also a good follow up for patients coming off Atripla. Truvada has always been paired up with the protease inhibitors.

What happens when Sustiva (efavirenz) goes generic around 2013? It actually costs us less to put it in Atripla.

What percentage of U.S. market is possible? 85% was patients coming onto Atripla in Q2 of 2007, if that is sustained we can substantially increase our percent of the total market over time.

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