Gilead Sciences Inc. says the federal government has approved its highly anticipated hepatitis C drug that is expected to offer a faster cure to millions of people infected with the liver-destroying virus, Newsmax Health reports.

 The Food and Drug Administration approved the pill Sovaldi in combination with older drugs to treat the major forms of hepatitis C.

 Current treatments for hepatitis C can take up to a year of therapy and only cure three out of four patients. Sovaldi is a daily pill that cures roughly 90 percent of patients in just 12 weeks, according to company studies.