Gilead faces challenge from Gilead in hepatitis C

With mounting  legal challenges to its hepatitis C patent estate abroad, and rising competition at home, California’s Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) has decided to get ahead of the game and launch its own approved generics for Epclusa (sofosbuvir/velpatasvir) and Harvoni (ledipasvir/sofosbuvir).

The decision to become its own copycat in HCV makes commercial sense, given the complexity of the US healthcare system, where the firm says discounts “may not always translate into lower costs for patients.”

By cutting out the middlemen, Gilead hopes it can maintain its end of a shrinking market opportunity. The firm expects sales of its HCV business to come in under $4 billion this year, less than half the figure from 2017 and a precipitous drop from the some $20 billion peak of 2015.