France has negotiated a huge discount for Sovaldi, Gilead Sciences’ new drug to treat the hepatitis C virus (HCV), Reuters reports. The new deal will ensure that the treatment is fully reimbursable by the country’s health-funding schemes.

Officials say France has secured “the lowest price in Europe” for Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), with a 12-week course of treatment priced around 41,000 euros ($51,373), a reduction of nearly $18,000 from the drug’s original price.

In the United States, a full course of Sovaldi treatment costs about $84,000, which comes out to almost $1,000 per pill.

It is estimated that some 200,000 people in France are living with hepatitis C, with the total cost of treatment at around 800 million euros a year.