Towards HBV curative therapies

Abstract

Tremendous progress has been made over the last 2 decades to discover and develop approaches to control hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections and to prevent the development of hepatocellular carcinoma using various interferons and small molecules as antiviral agents. However, none of these agents have significant impact on eliminating HBV from infected cells. Currently the emphasis is on silencing or eliminating cccDNA, which could lead to a cure for HBV. Various approaches are being developed including the development of capsid effectors, CRISPR/Cas9, TALENS, siRNA, entry and secretion inhibitors, as well as immunological approaches. It is very likely that a combination of these modalities will need to be employed to successfully eliminate HBV or prevent virus rebound on discontinuation of therapy. In the next 5 years clinical data will emerge which will provide insight on the safety and feasibility of these approaches and if they can be applied to eradicate HBV infections globally. In this review, we summarize current treatments and we highlight and examine recent therapeutic strategies that are currently being evaluated at the preclinical and clinical stage.

 

KEYWORDS
antiviral agents, cccDNA, HBV cure, immunotherapy

 

About Speaker

Raymond SCHINAZI

Frances Winship Walters Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology

USA

City: Atlanta

Institution: Emory University

Contact: rschina@emory.edu


Biography of Raymond SCHINAZI

Dr. Raymond F. Schinaziis the Frances Winship Walters Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology at Emory University and co-Director of the HIV Cure Scientific Working Group for the NIH- sponsored Emory University Center for AIDS Research (CFAR). He has authored over 550 peer-reviewed papers and 7 books and holds over 100 issued US patents, which have resulted in 17 New Drug Applications (NDA). A world leader in nucleoside chemistry, Dr. Schinazi is best known for his pioneering work on HIV, HBV and HCV drugs d4T (stavudine), 3TC (lamivudine), FTC (emtricitabine), LdT (telbivudine), and sofosbuvir (Sovaldi), which are all approved by the US FDA and the EMEA. He is a Charter Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. More than 94% of HIV-infected individuals in the US on combination therapy take at least one of the drugs he invented. Dr. Schinazi is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2015 William S. Middleton Award from the Department of Veterans Affairs, he is the recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award from the American Liver Foundation, 2016 Institute of Human Virology’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Public Service, 2016 Scrip Lifetime Achievement Award, State of the Art Award from the 2017 Paris Hepatology Conference, and 2017 Excellence Prize from Journées Québécoises, McGill University. He serves as a Senior Advisor for the International Coalition to Eliminate HBV (ICE-HBV) and as an Affiliated Professor of the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France. He is also a Fellow of the American Society of Microbiology Dr. Schinazi is internationally recognized as one of the most influential persons in the life science sector.

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