[2] Pharmasset was founded in 1998 by Raymond Schinazi and Dennis Liotta, scientists at Emory University.

"[6] The company's secondary focus was the development of Racivir, an investigational antiretroviral drug for the treatment of HIV.

[11] When Gilead Sciences acquired Pharmasset for $11.2 billion in 2012, the "smaller company had forecast a $36,000 price per treatment course of Sovaldi.

Gilead's investment bankers, Barclays and Bank of America Merrill Lynch did the "valuation of Pharmasset during merger talks and the related pricing assumptions for Sovaldi."

According to The Wall Street Journal in response to the price of Solvadi at $84,000 per treatment course, the United States Senate Finance Committee wrote a letter to CEO John C. Martin questioning how much Pharmasset had spent on research and development on Sovaldi and how much Gilead spent on its "Sovaldi-related research costs since the 2012 buyout.