- On the heels of the weekend report that Gilead (NASDAQ:GILD) and AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) were in touch about a possible merger, CNBC's Faber says that there is nothing going on at the moment.
- The prior report did indicate that formal talks weren't yet underway and that advisers and others were being informally included in the process.
- Faber does acknowledge that "there may have been a conversation" at one point, but points out AstraZeneca, as U.K. company would have been required to disclose that anything was going on if it in fact were in process of a deal, per the takeover panel regulations.
- There's no overlap in product portfolios, Faber points out, but acknowledges that Gilead is notable in that it has one of the more promising treatments for Covid-19.
- Gilead shares were indicated to open much higher, but has now come in, up 1.5% in early trading.