Gilead and Vir have teamed up to develop a cure for hepatitis B

Gilead Sciences and Vir Biotechnology, a start-up biotech company, have announced a partnership to find a cure for hepatitis B, the financial terms of which have not been disclosed.
December 10, Gilead announced the acquisition of German biotech company MYR GmbH for about $1.4 billion and the acquisition of a new hepatitis drug, Hepcludex, to treat chronic hepatitis B virus infection.
signed a hepatitis B cooperation agreement with Vir in the hope of improving the listed hepatitis B drug.
current hepatitis B treatment will inhibit the replication of hepatitis virus in patients, but will not completely remove the virus in patients.
hepatitis B patients need life-long treatment.
current treatment, once the patient stops treatment, co-priced closed ring DNA or cccDNA in the body will cause hepatitis B virus replication to start over.
the two companies plan to launch a Phase 2 clinical trial for the combined treatment of experienced and untreated hepatitis B patients.
the multi-arm trial will evaluate the efficacy of Gilead's TLR-8 astrist selgantolimod combination therapy, including VIR-2218 (small interferon RNA) in Vir studies, and PD-1 antagonists already on the market.
trial, patients who had previously received hepatitis B treatment may also be treated with Gilead Vileidy.
VIR-2218 is an underskin injectable, targeted liver-targeted RNAi drug developed in collaboration with Vir Biotechnology and Allenylam.
VIR-2218 inhibits the expression of hepatitis B surface antigens that integrate DNA and cccDNA mediatation.
VIR-2218 In a Phase 2 clinical trial of 24 patients with chronic hepatitis B, the level of hepatitis B surface antigen in patients treated at a dose of 50 mg was lower than the baseline at 12 weeks of treatment, and the level of surface antigen of hepatitis B was still lower than the baseline at 28 weeks of treatment.
group treated with other doses of VIR-2281 also showed a significant decrease in levels of surface antigens for hepatitis B.
Gilead Selgantolimod (GS-9688) is a selective small molecule tooll-subject 8 astration, the drug shown in a Phase II trial, selgantolimod (GS -9688) can induce patients to produce IL-12p40, IL-12p70, IFNG and other circulating antiviral cytokines, and the serum coercion factors show an increased dose law.
levels of serum cytokines and serum coercion factors in most patients peaked 4 hours after selgantolimod treatment and returned to near baseline levels in the following 24 hours.
, however, the safety and effectiveness of selgantolimod and VIR-2218 have not yet been determined.
both drugs are at the research stage and have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or any other regulatory agency.
the main result of the study was the proportion of patients who achieved functional cures in the trial, i.e. a decrease in HBSAg and HBV DNA in the serum after treatment.
both companies reserve full rights to their respective candidates and will discuss potential avenues for any future portfolio studies based on the results of the Phase II trial.
source: 1.Major hep B players Gilead and Vir join forces to find a cure 2.Gilead and Vir Biotechnology Clinical Clinical Collaboration to Explore Complex Strategies for Functional Chronic for Hepatitis Virus B