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Éliminer l’hépatite B.
Prévenir le cancer du foie.
Sauver 1 million de vies chaque année.

Lisez notre note d’orientation en français.

On  29 July 2021 for World Hepatitis Day ICE HBV, together with Coalition to Eradicate Viral Hepatitis in Asia Pacific (CEVHAP) and Yellow Warriors Society Philippines, Inc. (YWSP), co-hosted the webinar Finding a Cure for Hepatitis B: Asia-Pacific Regional Webinar. An event aimed discussing the latest research in HBV Cure and surrounding topics with people living with HBV and their community.

Speakers were Dee Lee, Inno Community Development Organisation, China, Lien Tran, Doherty Institute Melbourne, Margaret Hellard, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, and Seng Gee Lim, National University Health System, Singapore.

You can watch recordings of the webinars here:

Seng Gee Lim (NUS Singapore) on HBV Science for the Community

Margaret Hellard (Burnet Institute) on Hepatitis B Health Care Access in Asia Pacific

Remarks From Lived Experience – Hepatitis B Community Webinar Asia Pacific

HBV Functional Cure Q&As: For Hepatitis B what does functional cure mean?

The price tag of a potential cure for chronic hepatitis B infection: A cost threshold analysis for USA, China and Australia

ICE HBV Stakeholders Group members publish article in Liver International:

Find the article here: The price tag of a potential cure for chronic hepatitis B infection: A cost threshold analysis for USA, China and Australia

Abstract
Background & Aims
We aim to capture the economic impact of a potential cure for chronic hepatitis B infection (CHB) in three countries (USA, China and Australia) with different health systems and epidemics to estimate the threshold drug prices below which a CHB cure would be cost-saving and/or highly cost-effective.

Methods
We simulated patients’ hepatitis B progression, under three scenarios: current long-term suppressive antiviral therapy, functional cure defined as sustained undetectable HBsAg and HBV DNA, and partial cure defined as sustained undetectable HBV DNA only after a finite, 48-week treatment.

Results
Compared with current long-term antiviral therapy, a 30% effective functional cure among patients with and without cirrhosis in the USA, China and Australia would yield 17.50, 17.32 and 20.42 QALYs per patient, and 20.61, 20.42 and 20.62 QALYs per patient respectively. In financial terms, for CHB patients with and without cirrhosis, this would be cost-saving at a one-time treatment cost under US$11 944 and US$6694, respectively, in the USA, US$1744 and US$1001 in China, and US$12 063 and US$10 983 in Australia.

Conclusion
We show that in purely economic terms, a CHB cure will be highly cost-effective even if effective in only 30% of treated patients. The threshold price for cure is largely determined by the current antiviral drug costs, since it will replace a daily antiviral pill that is inexpensive and effective, although not curative. The likely need for combination therapies to achieve cure will also present cost challenges. While cost-effectiveness is important, it cannot be the only consideration, as cure will provide many benefits in addition to reduced liver disease and HCC, including eliminating the need for a long-term daily pill and reducing stigma often associated with chronic viral infection.

Encouraging data from a new study found that antiretroviral drug, tenofovir, prevented serious COVID-19 illness amongst people living with chronic Hepatitis B.

A study conducted in Spain found that antiretrovira drug tenofovir reduced the severity of COVID-19 in patients with chronic Hepatitis B.
Beatriz Mateos Muñoz, PhD Specialist in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Hospital Universitario Ramón in Spain, said the study analysed data from 4736 patients from 28 Spanish hospitals.

Of the 117 COVID-19 positive patients who were identified, 67 were taking tenofovir and 50 were on entecavir, an antiviral drug in the treatment of hepatitis B virus infection. Muñoz said the incidence of COVID-19 in patients on tenofovir or entecavir were similar, but that patients on entecavir “more often had severe COVID-19, required ICU, ventilatory support, had longer hospitalization or died”.

The study found that tenofovir seemed to offer some protection in patients with chronic hepatitis B infected by COVID-19.

“In multivariate logistic regression adjusted by age, sex, obesity, comorbidities and fibrosis stage, tenofovir reduced by 6-fold the risk of severe COVID-19. Patients with chronic hepatitis B on tenofovir have a lower risk of severe COVID-19 infection than those on entecavir.”

This is an excerpt from the article “Leading Researchers Highlight the Impact of COVID-19 on Global Liver Disease” on Health Policy Watch. Read more here. 

消除乙肝
预防肝癌
每年拯救100万人的生命

阅读我们的中文政策简介。

The research laboratory on Viral Hepatitis at INSERM Unit 1052 (Cancer Research Center of Lyon–CRCL) is opening a Post-Doctoral position to work on its “HBV cure” program.

The Viral Hepatitis Team has a longstanding experience in the study of the mechanisms of HBV persistence and the identification of novel targets for antiviral therapy. The laboratory is looking for a motivated candidate to work on a project focused on the characterization of novel approaches to directly target the viral minichromosome, the so-called covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), responsible for HBV persistence in infected cells. In particular, the project is aimed at the investigation of the use of nuclease-based strategies to hit cccDNA.

The project is integrated in a wider, international program on “HBV cure”, in which the laboratory is actively involved. Relevant in vitro and in vivo models for the study of human HBV infection and expertise in molecular virology and epigenetics are well established in the host laboratory. The candidate will also benefit from the scientific environment and technical platforms provided by the CRCL (http://www.crcl.fr). The position is available immediately.

The highly motivated candidate will have to hold a PhD and be experienced in cell culture and molecular biology. Experience in molecular virology and/or genome editing technology will be welcome.

The candidates should send their application (C.V., letter of motivation and 2 letters of recommendation) to:
Prof. Fabien Zoulim – Head of Viral Hepatitis Laboratory, INSERM U1052
e-mail: fabien.zoulim@inserm.fr; marieagnes.vittoz@inserm.fr

Download the PDF here.

Искореним гепатит B.
Предотвратим рак печени.
Спасём 1 миллион жизней каждый год.

Прочтите нашу аналитическую записку на русском языке.