Drugmaker Gilead Sciences turned around a net loss in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2018, but saw its expenses rise due to research and development costs.
Gilead recorded an $820 million impairment charge in the fourth quarter of 2018 related to R&D for its KITE-585 program, which is evaluating a treatment for multiple myeloma. Gilead acquired Kite Pharma to break into the CAR-T cancer drug market to make up for waning sales of its hepatitis C drugs.
Despite the setback, Gilead ended the fourth quarter with net income of $3 million, compared to a net loss of $3.9 billion in the same period in 2017. Total revenues fell slightly to $5.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018, compared to $5.9 billion in the same period a year prior.
Gilead ended fiscal year 2018 with net income of $5.5 billion, up from $4.6 billion in 2017.