A treatment of hepatitis C is set to break sales records for a drug launch despite a price tag of over $1,000 a pill. Manufactured by Gilead Sciences, Harvoni has cure rates of between 94 and 99 per cent. Harvoni is the successor to Gilead’s Sovaldi which has accrued over $7 billion in US sales since it became available in the last quarter of 2013. Harvoni is poised to be even more of a successful drug to treat hepatitis C.

When the drug first went on sale, in the week beginning October 14, Doctors wrote 445 Harvoni prescriptions, almost three times the number of Sovaldi treatments handed out when it was launched in December 2013.

Analyst Brian Abrahams, from Wells Fargo said that they believe this confirms the potential for Harvoni to reaccelerate prescription growth and draw increasing numbers of patients on to therapy.

But the price charged for Sovaldi and Harvoni by Gilead has prompted an outcry among healthcare companies and politicians. Cost of a 12-week Harvoni treatment at $1,125 a pill costs $94,500 which is just over $10,000 more than for Sovaldi.

National Coalition for Healthcare’s president, John Rother said that Gilead has made it clear that it values profit above the interests of taxpayer, patients and the insured.

Gilead’s shares which has a market cap of over $170billion, have risen over 61 per cent over in 2013, outperforming the US biotechnology sector.

Gilead said that Harvoni eliminated the need for ribavirin pills and peg interferon injections, both of which needs to be compulsorily taken with Sovaldi. For 12 weeks of Sovaldi, the total price with the additional drugs is $94,726; which means that treatment with Harvoni is slightly cheaper overall.

Gilead added that they believe the price of Harvoni reflects the value of the medicine. According to the company, Harvoni offers a cure at a price that will significantly reduce hepatitis C treatment costs now and deliver significant healthcare savings to the healthcare system over the long term.

Hepatitis C is a viral disease which causes cancer, liver failure or other life-threatening conditions. In the United States, over three million individuals are infected with hepatitis C, including many infected through blood transfusions which were carried out before 1992, when screening was initially introduced. The disease is most often transmitted via blood-to-blood contact and intravenous drug use. If the patients are left untreated, they can end up needing a liver transplant, which costs approximately $300,000.