HBV Combinations Deliver Up to 56% Functional Cure in Trials as Bepirovirsen Hits 20%
Updated
Updated · emjreviews.com · Jul 6
HBV Combinations Deliver Up to 56% Functional Cure in Trials as Bepirovirsen Hits 20%
1 articles · Updated · emjreviews.com · Jul 6
Summary
Recent HBV trials revived hopes for a functional cure, with siRNA plus peginterferon alpha and prior therapeutic vaccination producing 56% HBsAg seroconversion at treatment end and 37% functional cure 24 weeks after stopping therapy.
Phase 3 bepirovirsen also showed a 20% functional cure rate after 24 weeks in non-cirrhotic patients with HBsAg below 3,000 IU/ml, a notable gain for a single agent.
Those results stand out because siRNA alone had previously lowered HBsAg but plateaued after 16–20 weeks and rarely cleared it, while earlier bepirovirsen data showed HBsAg negativity in only about 9% of patients.
The report argues antigen reduction alone is insufficient; the stronger outcomes likely reflect synergy between viral-antigen suppression and immune activation from Peg-IFNα, possible TLR-like effects of bepirovirsen, and vaccine-primed immunity.
Future HBV studies should track immune markers—not just virology—to explain which patients can sustain cure and to refine combination strategies for broader use.