A groundbreaking new drug for hepatitis B is offering a "functional cure" for some patients, allowing them to cease treatment without showing signs of the dangerous liver virus, researchers announced on Thursday. The experimental medication, known as bepirovirsen, or "bepi," has shown promising results in two international studies, with approximately one in five participants achieving viral suppression sufficient for their immune systems to manage.
"We have not had a treatment which has come to this level of cure," stated Dr. Seng Gee Lim of the National University Health System of Singapore, who co-led the GSK-funded studies. The findings were presented at a scientific meeting in Barcelona, Spain, and simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
