Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) announced that the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) has approved Sovaldi® (sofosbuvir 400mg), a once-daily oral nucleotide analog polymerase inhibitor for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Sovaldi was approved for the treatment of adults and adolescents (aged 12 to 18 years) infected with HCV genotype 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 as a component of a combination antiviral treatment regimen. Sovaldi is the first Gilead HCV medicine approved in China.

The approval of Sovaldi is supported by a Phase 3 study conducted in China, presented earlier this year at the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) meeting. SVR12 (HCV RNA undetectable 12 weeks after completing therapy) rates for Chinese HCV patients with genotype 1, 2, 3 or 6 ranged from 92-100 percent. The study evaluated Sovaldi in combination with ribavirin (RBV) or pegylated interferon+ribavirin (PegIFN+RBV) across a range of difficult-to-cure patient populations, including treatment-experienced patients and those with compensated cirrhosis. In this study, the safety profiles of the regimens were consistent with the known side effects of pegylated interferon and/or ribavirin. The most common adverse events were hematological abnormalities and pyrexia.

Professor Lai Wei, the principal investigator of Sovaldi’s Phase 3 study and former Chairman of the Chinese Society of Hepatology of the Chinese Medical Association said, “The approval of sofosbuvir in China provides more treatment options for Chinese HCV patients. The clinical trials in China and around the world provide evidence that the treatment is effective for multiple genotypes, which offers HCV patients in China a better chance at curing their disease.”

HCV is the fourth-most commonly reported infectious disease in China, with approximately 10 million people infected. HCV genotypes 1, 2, 3 and 6 account for more than 96 percent of all cases. Less than one percent of HCV patients are currently treated, using interferon-based regimens that have lower efficacy, longer treatment duration and less favorable safety profiles than more recent regimens that contain direct-acting antiviral medicines.

“With the approval of Sovaldi, there is now the potential opportunity to transform treatment for HCV patients in China,” said John F. Milligan, PhD, Gilead’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Medicines are one part of the solution but, as we have seen in other countries around the world, there are many other challenges that impact diagnosis, linkage to care and treatment. Gilead is committed to working with the government and other stakeholders with the goal to help reduce the significant burden of HCV disease in China.”

Sovaldi received marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2013 and the European Commission in 2014. It is also approved for use in 79 countries including Australia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Canada, Egypt, Switzerland and Turkey.