Phase III clinical trial results released Thursday show that an experimental drug can deliver a "functional cure" for patients with chronic hepatitis B.
According to data published in the New England Journal of Medicine and reported by the Associated Press and CNN, the drug, bepirovirsen, eliminated detectable traces of the liver virus in nearly 20 percent of trial participants. For patients who entered the study with lower baseline viral loads, the cure rate rose to 26 percent.
Developed jointly by GSK and Ionis Pharmaceuticals, the weekly injection destroys the virus's genetic material and helps the patient's immune system clear the infection. Chronic hepatitis B affects more than 240 million people worldwide and is the leading cause of liver cancer. Existing standard care requires daily pills taken for life and yields a cure rate of less than 1 percent a year.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted fast-track status to the therapy, with a final approval decision expected by October.
