Epclusa vs Harvoni
Both are hepatitis C antivirals. Here is how Epclusa and Harvoni compare on class, mechanism, dosing, approval and supply.
At a glance
Key differences
- Same class. Both Epclusa and Harvoni are hepatitis C antivirals, so they work through the same broad mechanism. Differences between them tend to be about dosing, route, how selective they are, and side effects rather than what they target.
- How they are taken. Both are given by the oral route.
- Time on the market. Epclusa was first approved by the FDA in 2016, Harvoni in 2014. That gives Harvoni roughly 2 more years of real-world use and long-term safety data.
What each one treats
EPCLUSA is indicated for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 3 years of age and older with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 infection [see Dosage and Administration (2.2 , 2.3 , 2.4) and Clinical Studies (14) ] : without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis with decompensated cirrhosis for use in combination with ribavirin. EPCLUSA is a fixed-dose combination of sofosbuvir, a hepatitis C virus (HCV) nucleotide analog NS5B polymerase inhibitor, and velpatasvir, an HCV NS5A inhibitor, and is indicated for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 3 years of age and older with chronic HCV genotype 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 infection ( 1 ): without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis with decompensated cirrhosis for use in combination with ribavirin.
HARVONI is indicated for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 3 years of age and older with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) [see Dosage and Administration (2.2 and 2.3) and Clinical Studies (14) ] : genotype 1, 4, 5, or 6 infection without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis genotype 1 infection with decompensated cirrhosis, for use in combination with ribavirin genotype 1 or 4 infection who are liver transplant recipients without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis, for use in combination with ribavirin HARVONI is a fixed-dose combination of ledipasvir, a hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS5A inhibitor, and sofosbuvir, an HCV nucleotide analog NS5B polymerase inhibitor, and is indicated for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) in adults and pediatric patients 3 years of age and older: Genotype 1, 4, 5, or 6 infection without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis …
How each one works
12.1 Mechanism of Action EPCLUSA is a fixed-dose combination of sofosbuvir and velpatasvir, which are direct-acting antiviral agents against the hepatitis C virus [see Microbiology (12.4) ].
12.1 Mechanism of Action HARVONI is a fixed-dose combination of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir, which are direct-acting antiviral agents against the hepatitis C virus [see Microbiology (12.4) ].
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How this page is built
The facts on this page are pulled directly from official U.S. FDA datasets — they are not written from memory. Each field below names the dataset it came from, so you can check it yourself.
- FDA Drug Label (openFDA) ↗ Indications, mechanism of action and pharmacologic class
- Drugs@FDA ↗ First FDA approval date and the company holding the application
- FDA Drug Shortage Database ↗ Current US supply / shortage status
Plain-English summaries and drug-class explainers are written and reviewed by Sreepriya Prasannan (MSc Digital Transformation of Life Sciences (Innopharma Education / Griffith College); MSc & BSc Botany). Data is retrieved automatically from the sources above and cross-checked with AI-assisted verification (Anthropic's Claude) — brand and generic names are matched against the exact FDA product record so that a combination product or a different formulation cannot be mistaken for the drug on this page. An editor reviews the result before publication. We describe this in full in our editorial standards and corrections policy. The FDA data on this page was last retrieved on 11 Oct 2026. How every register is built: methodology · fixes we have made: corrections log.