Close to 9 million people in India suffer from hepatitis C. If left untreated, the virus leads to cirrhosis or liver damage, which eventually causes death from organ failure or cancer. On average, a 50-year-old man in India with asymptomatic liver damage who doesn’t receive treatment is expected to live a little more than a decade longer.

Until recently, the typical treatment for chronic hepatitis C in India was a 24-week course of peginterferon injections combined with pills to combat side effects. The treatment’s efficacy was relatively low: It cured 40 percent to 80 percent of patients. There was a need for more effective treatments, not just in India but also for the 58 million people worldwide with chronic hepatitis C.

About a decade ago, Gilead Sciences developed Sovaldi and other drugs, which are antiviral pills that can cure most cases of hepatitis C. The California-based pharmaceutical company planned to expand access to the new medications in India through a combination of branded and generic versions.

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