"Assembly Biosciences Initiates Two Phase 2a Trials of ABI-H0731 for the Treatment of Hepatitis B Virus Infection"
Assembly Biosciences, Inc., announced the initiation of two multi-center, randomized, placebo controlled Phase 2a trials of ABI-H0731 for the treatment of patients with chronic HBV infection. "Even with indefinite treatment with the currently available nucleoside and nucleotide inhibitors, we are not able to fully suppress viral replication, which will be necessary for patients to achieve a cure for chronic HBV," said Douglas T. Dieterich, MD, director of the Institute of Liver Medicine and professor of medicine and liver disease at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and an investigator on both trials. Core inhibitors target different parts of the HBV life cycle than the current therapies, and may result in both greater viral suppression and increased loss of cccDNA, which is central to HBV persistence. Combining these new mechanisms of action with existing direct acting antivirals looks promising. I look forward to exploring this further in the trials and seeing the results."
- Douglas Dieterich, MD, Director, Institute of Liver Medicine, Professor, Liver Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai