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Gilead’s pan-genotypic hepatitis C virus combo, Epclusa, could significantly boost the company’s sales by filling some important niches.
Antiviral champ Gilead Sciences recently earned FDA approval for another hepatitis C virus (HCV) combination treatment, Epclusa.
Epclusa is poised to boost Gilead’s numbers by filling an important niche that has been somewhat overlooked, and Bristol-Myers Squibb is about to lose hundreds of millions annually in the process.
Gilead could really use the win in the hepatitis C space, too, since competing drugs from AbbVie and Merck & Co. have entered the HCV space have stolen some market share from Gilead’s previous combination sensation, Harvoni.
Let’s take a closer look at Epclusa’s and Harvoni’s advantages over existing treatment options, and what it could mean for Gilead’s sales in the years ahead.
Ribavirin… yuck!
Ribavirin is poorly tolerated antiviral, with long list of unpleasant and dangerous side effects, including abnormal breakdown of red blood cells that can lead to a heart attack. Gilead’s Harvoni for treatment of HCV genotype 1, the most common type, only requires a combination of ribavirin in patients with advanced cirrhosis.
Read the rest of this very informational article here! http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/05/how-gileads-new-hepatitis-c-virus-combination-stac.aspx