New drug stimulates immune system to kill infected cells in animal model of hepatitis B infection

A novel drug developed by Gilead Sciences and tested in an animal model at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio suppresses hepatitis B virus infection by stimulating the immune system and inducing loss of infected cells.

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Novel therapeutic approaches to cure chronic HBV infection

Exciting new data presented today at the International Liver Congress? 2013 include results from early in vitro and in vivo studies targeting covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), which may form the basis of a cure for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

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Drug therapy offers high cure rate for 2 hepatitis C subtypes

A new drug is offering dramatic cure rates for hepatitis C patients with two subtypes of the infection — genotype 2 and 3, say a team of scientists led by Weill Cornell Medical College researchers. These two subtypes account for approximately 25 percent of hepatitis C infection in the United States.

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Scripps Research Institute scientists find promising vaccine targets on hepatitis C virus

A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has found antibodies that can prevent infection from widely differing strains of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in cell culture and animal models.

HCV’s very high rate of mutation normally helps it to evade its host’s immune system. The newly discovered antibodies, however, attach to sites on the viral envelope that seldom mutate. One of the new antibodies, AR4A, shows broader HCV neutralizing activity than any previously reported anti-HCV antibody.

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MIT: Stem cells could drive hepatitis research forward

Hepatitis C, an infectious disease that can cause inflammation and organ failure, has different effects on different people. But no one is sure why some people are very susceptible to the infection, while others are resistant.

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Combination of oral drugs suppresses common type of hepatitis C

Ann Arbor, Mich. – A new combination of investigational drugs successfully suppressed hepatitis C genotype 1 infection in a high percent of patients who had not responded to previous treatment in a study led by a University of Michigan hepatologist.

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UBC researchers identify potential new therapy approach for hepatitis C

Researchers at the University of British Columbia have found a new way to block infection from the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the liver that could lead to new therapies for those affected by this and other infectious diseases.

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Two-thirds of hepatitis C patients can see a cure in half the time, new study finds

Treatment with a telaprevir-based combination regimen for hepatitis C – heretofore a chronic, destructive and difficult to manage disease – effectively can be shortened to six months in about two-thirds of patients, finds a new study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Breakthrough opens new avenues for hep C vaccine

Hopes for an effective vaccine and treatment against the potentially fatal hepatitis C virus (HCV) have received a major boost following the discovery of two ‘Achilles’ heels’ within the virus.

A team of medical researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) studied individuals at high risk of HCV infection, including a number identified within a few weeks of the onset of infection.

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PATH B — a comprehensive support program for patients diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B

• Hepatitis B is one of the most common infectious diseases in the world, with 10-30 million new infections every year[1], yet there remains a lack of reliable resources for patients and caregivers
• PATH B is a new programme that provides information and tools to guide patients through the stages of chronic hepatitis B; from diagnosis to long term disease management

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