Latest News

World Hepatitis Day 2022: Raising Awareness on Viral Hepatitis Elimination – Recording Now Available

POSTED ON: 29 Jul, 2022

The European Liver Patients Association (ELPA), IP-cure-B, ANRS | EID, and Inserm organized the event “Raising Awareness on Viral Hepatitis Elimination.” Topics include:

  • Welcome by Marko Korenjak & Fabien Zoulim
  • Viral Hepatitis Elimination Across the EU by Mojca Matičič
  • Viral Hepatitis Elimination Program in France by Marc Bourliere
  • IP-Cure-B research: Towards the cure of HBV Infection by Fabien Zoulim
  • How immune interventions impact on the viral reservoir in the liver by Massimo Levrero
  • General discussion with ELPA patient groups

You can rewatch the event here:

 

Now Published! HBV Serum Biomarkers Article in Nature Reviews | Gastroenterology & Hepatology

POSTED ON: 28 Jul, 2022

We are delighted to share our HBV Serum Biomarkers manuscriptm,  recently published online at Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology. This publication is an important review, which culminates almost 2 years work since the ICE-HBV Serum Biomarkers workshops online in 2020.

Rewatch the Workshop here

 

Abstract

Globally, 296 million people are infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV), and approximately one million people die annually from HBV-related causes, including liver cancer. Although thereis a preventative vaccine and antiviral therapies suppressing HBV replication, there is no cure.Intensive efforts are under way to develop curative HBV therapies. Currently, only a few biomarkersare available for monitoring or predicting HBV disease progression and treatment response. Asnew therapies become available, new biomarkers to monitor viral and host responses are urgentlyneeded. In October 2020, the International Coalition to Eliminate Hepatitis B Virus (ICE-HBV) helda virtual and interactive workshop on HBV biomarkers endorsed by the International HBV Meeting.Various stakeholders from academia, clinical practice and the pharmaceutical industry, withcomplementary expertise, presented and participated in panel discussions. The clinical utility ofboth classic and emerging viral and immunological serum biomarkers with respect to the courseof infection, disease progression, and response to current and emerging treatments was appraised.The latest advances were discussed, and knowledge gaps in understanding and interpretationof HBV biomarkers were identified. This Roadmap summarizes the strengths, weaknesses,opportunities and challenges of HBV biomarkers.

Read the full article here.

For more ICE-HBV publication, check out our Publication Page here.

 

Take home message from the 9th ANRS|EID HBV Cure conference: interview with Fabien Zoulim

POSTED ON: 28 Jul, 2022

ANRS | Emerging infectious diseases

has been involved for nearly ten years in research programs aimed at curing hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Delta virus (HDV) infections. Every year, the ANRS HBV Cure Task Force organizes a workshop bringing together international experts to discuss the recent advances in our understanding  of chronic hepatitis B and Delta, and to present the progress in the discovery of new therapeutic targets and advances in clinical development. On the occasion of World Hepatitis Day on July 28th 2022, Fabien Zoulim, professor of medicine in Lyon, coordinator of the European project “IP-cure-B”, the RHU project “CirB-RNA”, the ANRS Task Force “HBV Cure” and current chair of ICE-HBV presents the take home messages from the 9th HBV cure workshop held in Lyon on July 5th, 2022.

Background: Despite the fact that an effective vaccine is available, hepatitis B still represents a major global public health problem today. According to the WHO, there were still 296 million chronic carriers of the virus worldwide in 2019; this disease is also the leading cause of liver cancer. HBV and its complications contributed to 820,000 deaths in 2019. Co-infection with HDV worsens the disease and increases the risk of developing cirrhosis or liver cancer. There are currently no curative treatments for these two types of hepatitis.

Advances in understanding the mechanisms of HBV persistence

Virological aspects. Recent data concerning the viral reservoir (HBV cccDNA) were presented during the workshop. Recent data were presented on how this reservoir is formed and regulated during chronic infection, and how it could be targeted, in particular by using new “genetic scissors” approaches.

Immunological aspects. Recent data were discussed on the mechanisms involved in the defects in the immune responses of patients to discover novel pathways to restore them to effectively control or eliminate the virus. In particular, new approaches such as therapeutic vaccines were discussed.

New technologies to assess the site of infection (hepatic compartment), the viral reservoir and the hepatic immune response

The evaluation of the hepatic compartment at the virological and immune levels is critical to determine the impact of the new therapeutic approaches on the viral reservoir and on the antiviral immune responses in the site of infection. Experts have studied new approaches to analyze the liver compartment, which are less invasive than liver biopsy, such as fine needle aspirations. New PCR and immunology technologies allow now to investigate the viral reservoir and immune responses on FNA samples in proof of concept clinical trials. This should generate crucial information for the development of new therapeutic approaches.

Overview of advanced therapies in the field of hepatitis B and HBV-HDV co-infections

A comprehensive review of the most recent clinical trials was presented and has shown that this field of research is very dynamic: many antiviral molecules and several immunotherapy strategies are in phase II clinical trials, most often in combination therapy, either with direct antivirals or with direct antivirals and immunotherapy. Great advances have been made on certain classes of molecules such as capsid assembly modulators and on strategies targeting viral RNAs (siRNAs or antisense oligonucleotides).

For hepatitis Delta, a virus entry inhibitor (bulevirtide) has been conditionally approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in July 2020- taking into account that so far no treatment was available for this disease. The modalities of administration are being developed pending the results of phase III clinical trials. Other antiviral molecules are also being studied in various clinical trials.

The ANRS | Emerging infectious diseases sponsors  and funds a Delta cohort study, ANRS HD EP01 BuleDelta, (monitoring of HDV patients on bulevirtide) which has already included 193 patients in 30 centers. It is also sponsoring the IP-Cure-B study (ANRS HB07 IP-Cure-B ), an European-funded randomized clinical trial which aims to stimulate antiviral immune responses by a TLR8 agonist (Selgantolimod) and which has already included 6 patients in France.

You can rewatch the entire workshop here:

Learn more here:

 

 

Help Improve HBV Care in RLS – Survey Relaunched! Now in Spanish, French, and English.

POSTED ON: 07 Jun, 2022

ICE-HBV is working on an international collaborative research review project about HBV management in resource-limited settings (RLS), led by Daryl Lau and Manal El Sayed. The main objective of the project is to improve access to/quality of HBV care in RLS and reduce HBV mortality and incidence.

We are therefore inviting individuals and organizations working on HBV in resource-limited settings to complete a survey developed to elaborate improved Point-of-Care models for HBV management in RLS. Your input will inform our work on this pressing topic. The survey should take around 15-20 minutes and can be found in the links below:

SPANISH

FRENCH

ENGLISH

If you have any questions or issues with the survey, feel free to contact ICE-HBV Program Associate Jennifer Pampolina at jpampolina_AT_excolo.com.sg

Please share this call with colleagues and organizations working on HBV in RLS.

 

Thank you in advance for your help and important contribution to this project.

 

Download the Survey Invite here

If you have any questions or issues with the survey, feel free to contact ICE-HBV Program Associate Jennifer Pampolina at jpampolina@excolo.com.sg

Feel free to forward this message to colleagues and organizations that also work on HBV in RLS.

Thank you in advance for your help and important contribution to this project.

Funding Opp for HBV Research: U.S. Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs

POSTED ON: 20 Apr, 2022
The new round of awards for the U.S. Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs is now open. All organizations, including foreign organizations, foreign public entities, and international organizations, are eligible to apply.
The Hepatitis B Foundation advocated to ensure that hepatitis B is one of the diseases included in these programs, and we also worked with DoD to recruit hepatitis B advocates and patients to serve on the review committees.
These are excellent funding opportunities for hepatitis B research, and it is critical that researchers apply to these funds – the more applications they receive, the higher hepatitis B will be prioritized, and the less chance that hepatitis B will be taken off the disease list in the future. Since its initial inclusion, over $3.48 million has been awarded to hepatitis B grants through this competitive program, and over $28 million has been awarded for liver cancer research.
Consider submitting an application. More details from the DoD can be found below, and at https://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/prmrp:

Nature Portfolio publishes outlook on Hepatitis B

POSTED ON: 05 Apr, 2022

 

“Every year, more than 800,000 people worldwide die from hepatitis-B-related liver disease — a greater toll than from malaria. But efforts to curb transmission and discover a cure are picking up steam.”

Access the full Outlook here

Article Features & Comment

Call for Nominations Distinguished Award in Hepatitis B Research

POSTED ON: 08 Mar, 2022
There is a call for nominations for the Distinguished Award in Hepatitis B Research to be awarded at the 2022 International HBV Meeting in Paris, France.
The DAHBR honors an investigator who has made seminal contributions to the study of HBV and/or HDV. The full criteria and selection processes are described in the attached document, but in short, the selection criteria are:
Primary criteria:
  • Seminal scholarly contributions to the field of HBV research, as judged by the impact of publications.
  • Long-standing member of the HBV research community, who is recognized as a prominent leader, with a large body of work that has made continuous contributions to the field.
  • Secondary criteria:
  • Strong commitment to serve, build and support the HBV research community, as recognized by various non-research contributions to the field.
  • Frequent participation in the annual International HBV Meeting.
Prior DAHBR recipients are:
  • 2021   Stephan Urban
  • 2020   Michael Nassal
  • 2019   Marie Annick Buendia
  • 2018   Wolfram Gerlich
  • 2017   Frank Chisari
Nominations can be submitted by any past attendee of the International HBV Meeting. To nominate someone for the 2022 DAHBR, please obtain the nominee’s permission to submit their name for consideration, and then send the following to me at john.tavis@health.slu.edu by March 25: 
  • A nomination letter (one-page)
  • The nominee’s CV
  • A list of the nominee’s 5-10 most influential publications.

New Protocol Released – An Optimized Ex Vivo Flurospot assay to identify multi-functional HBV-specific T cells in Chronic Hepatitis B patients

POSTED ON: 08 Mar, 2022

Authors:
Conan Chua, Aman Mehrotra, Dr. Adam Gehring,
Toronto Centre for Liver Disease, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

During a traditional FluroSpot assay, low HBV Specific T cell frequencies have hindered effective ex vivo analysis. We overcame this obstacle to measure ex vivo T cell responses in CHB patients, by modifying the key variables of cell number and the peptide pulsing method to improve ex vivo detection of HBV-specific T cells.

You can access the full protocol here:

Ex Vivo Flurospot Assay Protocol

Help Improve HBV Care in RLS – Survey Request

POSTED ON: 10 Feb, 2022

ICE-HBV is working on an international collaborative research review project about HBV management in resource-limited settings (RLS), led by Daryl Lau and Manal El Sayed. The main objective of the project is to improve access to/quality of HBV care in RLS and reduce HBV mortality and incidence.

We are therefore inviting individuals and organizations working on HBV in resource-limited settings to complete a survey developed to elaborate improved Point-of-Care models for HBV management in RLS. Your input will inform our work on this pressing topic. The survey should take around 15-20 minutes and can be found here:

ICE-HBV POC model of HBV Care

 

Ideally, we would like to receive survey results by 24 February, 2022.

The result of this survey and our work will lead to a position paper on this topic. There is a strong need for a comprehensive, effective and practical HBV management guidance focused on resource-limited settings. Such guidance would support a public health approach to HBV elimination, by encouraging the roll-out and uptake of prevention, testing, and treatment. Through this work, we also aim to contribute to the WHO guidelines revision process currently taking place.

If you have any questions or issues with the survey, feel free to contact ICE-HBV Program Associate Jennifer Pampolina at jpampolina@excolo.com.sg

Feel free to forward this message to colleagues and organizations that also work on HBV in RLS.

Thank you in advance for your help and important contribution to this project.

Download the Survey Invite here

HDV Elimination Webinar Recording Now Available

POSTED ON: 07 Feb, 2022

On  1 February  2022 ICE-HBV, together with the Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination organized the webinar Bridging Science & New Therapeutics for HDV Elimination. The webinar, chaired by Maura Dandri (ICE-HBV), Massimo Levrero (ICE-HBV), and John Ward (CGHE/ICE-HBV), looked at the following topics:

You can (re)watch the entire webinar on the CGHE website here: