Experimental hepatitis B treatment resulted in 'functional cure' for nearly one in five people

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In clinical trials, an experimental drug helped overcome nearly one in five people with hepatitis B, a chronic infection caused by the virus, far exceeding available treatment options for the disease, which kills one million people each year.

Approximately 250 million to 300 million people worldwide are infected with chronic hepatitis B, which can lead to serious problems such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. Current treatments, known as nucleoside analogs, lead to so-called functional cures in only 1% to 3% of patients.

But data released Thursday showed that in two Phase 3 trials, GSK’s bepilovirsen (commonly known as “bepi”) achieved functional cure in 20% and 19% of patients, while none of the patients given a placebo reached that point.

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