Gilead upped on HIV franchise; Merck downgraded on Keytruda LoE at Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank upgraded Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) on Tuesday, citing the antiviral developer’s HIV treatment franchise, and downgraded Merck (NYSE:MRK), citing the cancer drugmaker’s upcoming loss of exclusivity for its blockbuster therapy Keytruda.

Assuming five long-acting HIV drugs, including GILD’s upcoming HIV-1