Although the medicine is quoted at USD 1,000 a pill in the US, its generic version is priced at USD 13.71 per pill in India.
The company was granted patent for the drug by the Indian Patent Office (IPO) recently.
"It (patent grant) will have no impact on prices in India. Our licensing programme is already working well, with our licensed partners already having launched low-cost, high-quality product in the country and in the licensed territory," a company spokesperson said in an e-mailed response.
Insisting that recognition of intellectual property (IP) is central to investment in pharmaceutical R&D, the company said Indian patent office's decision underlined "the scientific innovation involved in the development of this breakthrough treatment for chronic hepatitis C".
Also Read
"It is the company's goal to enable access to these medicines for as many people as possible, as quickly as possible," the spokesperson added.
Last year, Gilead had signed licensing pacts with pharma firms, including Natco, Hetero Drugs, Cipla, Ranbaxy, Cadila, Mylan Laboratories, Sequent Scientific and Strides Arcolab, among others, to manufacture and market the drug in India.
"This licensing programme enables manufacturing and distribution of high-quality, low-cost versions of the company's medicines for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C," the company's spokesperson had said.
Sovaldi was launched in 2013 in the American market for USD 28,000 for a 28-capsule bottle. It was approved under the trade name Sovaldi by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) in December 2013 and the European Commission in January 2014.