Gilead Sciences Korea and Yuhan Corporation said Thursday the two companies signed an agreement to jointly sell and market Gilead's chronic hepatitis C treatments in Korea.

Under the strategic alliance, the two will carry out domestic sales and marketing activities for Gilead’s hepatitis C treatments Sovaldi (ingredient: sofosbuvir) and Harvoni (ingredient: ledipasvir/sofosbuvir).

Sovaldi and Harvoni are representative HCV direct acting antivirals (DAA) products that “have opened the era of eradicating hepatitis C,” Gilead said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) along with many countries such as the U.S., Europe, and Japan have developed national strategies to eradicate hepatitis C by 2030, based on the high cure rate of these HCV DAA products, the company said.

“Sovaldi and Harvoni have introduced the concept of a ‘perfect cure.’ Based on strong partnership and trust with Yuhan, Gilead will actively contribute to eradicating hepatitis C in Korea and provide effective treatment options for patients,” said Gilead Science Korea CEO Lee Seung-woo at a commemorative ceremony Thursday.

The bilateral agreement is successive to the previous partnership made for co-promoting chronic hepatitis B treatments Viread and Vemlidy, the companies said.

“Yuhan and Gilead have achieved synergies through a long-term partnership that maximizes each other’s strengths,” said Yuhan CEO Yoo Jung-hee. “Yuhan will use its expertise to its fullest extent so patients can hope for a complete cure while getting treatment through the Sovaldi and Harvoni co-promotion agreements.”

Several countries, such as Korea, the U.S., and Europe, have marked the two drugs as priority treatments for hepatitis C in their respective treatment guidelines due to its efficacy, according to the companies.