March 25 (Reuters) - Gilead Sciences Inc said on Wednesday it had requested the U.S. Food and Drug administration to rescind the "orphan drug" status for its experimental drug, remdesivir, seen as one of the more promising potential treatments for the coronavirus.

The drugmaker said it was confident of maintaining an expedited timeline for seeking regulatory review of remdesivir, without the orphan drug designation.

The orphan drug status provides a seven-year market exclusivity period, as well as tax and other incentives for drug companies developing treatments for rare diseases that affect fewer than 200,000 people. (Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)