Gilead Not Bullet-Proof After All: Harvoni US Sales Tumble More Than 50%

After a lengthy string of quarters in which Gilead could boast of continually soaring sales numbers for its hepatitis C franchise – anchored by Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) and Harvoni (sofosbuvir/ledipasvir) – the firm was well prepared, however, to explain the sales downturn (Also see "Gilead HCV Sales Decline In US, But Offset By Global Growth" - Scrip, 3 February, 2016.). Executives cited a reduction in revenue per patient that it attributes both to the discounting needed to begin treatment in less-sick patients and the fact that a higher share of the US patient base now is insured by public payers such as the Department of Veterans Affairs and Medicaid.

Overall, it was close to a flat quarter for Gilead, with total product sales of $7.7bn, up from $7.4bn a...