Gilead Sciences Inc. topped $1 billion in revenues in the second quarter while posting a record $905.1 million in product sales.

The sales figure and the $1.05 billion in revenue both marked a 53 percent increase from totals reported for the second quarter of 2006. Net income for the quarter was $407.9 million, or $0.42 per diluted share (46 cents on a non-GAAP basis), beating consensus estimates.

The Foster City, Calif.-based company reported revenues from six products it has on the on market and others from which it gets royalties or contract payments. Its pipeline continues to grow, as it gained approval in June of Letairis, an endothelin receptor antagonist indicated for the once-daily treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Gilead also plans to submit for regulatory approval by the end of the year for two more products: its HIV drug Viread for treating chronic hepatitis B, and aztreonam lysine for inhalation for treatment of pulmonary infection in patients with cystic fibrosis. The company released positive pivotal data from each program in the second quarter. (See BioWorld Today, May 31, 2007, June 8, 2007, and June 19, 2007.)

Most of Gilead's sales growth - and most of its income as a whole - came from its HIV franchise, which includes the single-dose, triple-drug combination product Atripla. That product, launched in July 2006, generated sales of $212.4 million for the quarter, short of analysts' estimates.

A big winner for the quarter was the combination HIV product Truvada, which had sales of $385.4 million for the quarter vs. $299.2 million in the year-ago period. Sales outside the U.S - especially in Europe - helped drive that increase, accounting for about $199 million of the total (vs. $91.5 million last year).

Gilead's HIV franchise also includes Viread, which generated sales of $154.9 million in the quarter, and Emtriva, which brought in $9.6 million. In total, HIV product sales were $762.2 million.

Gilead expects to take another product, the HIV integrase inhibitor GS9137 (elvitegravir), into Phase III trials in the fourth quarter.

Sales of the chronic hepatitis B product Hepsera were $75.2 million for the second quarter, up 32 percent from a year ago.

Sales of AmBisome, for treating severe fungal infections, were $64.8 million, up 16 percent. Royalty, contract and other revenues were $143 million, up 51 percent over a year ago. Much of that total derived from recognition of $123.1 million in royalties on sales of the flu drug Tamiflu, from F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

Research and development expenses in the second quarter were $135.9 million, up from $90.5 million the prior year.

Gilead ended the second quarter with about $2 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, up from $1.4 billion on Dec. 31. That increase came even as Gilead repurchased $454.9 million of its common stock during the second quarter of 2007, completing a $1 billion stock repurchase program initially authorized by the board in March 2006.

Gilead officials also offered new guidance on anticipated products sales for the year, increasing the estimate to $3.6 billion to $3.7 billion from $3.4 billion to $3.5 billion.

Gilead's stock (NASDAQ:GILD) fell $1.67 Friday to close at $38.75.