WARMINSTER, PA — Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (Nasdaq: ABUS) has announced promising new data from its IM-PROVE I Phase 2a clinical trial, suggesting significant advancements in treatment for chronic hepatitis B virus (cHBV). The trial results, presented at The Liver Meeting® 2024 by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, highlight the potential of combining the company’s RNAi therapeutic, imdusiran, with pegylated interferon alfa-2α (IFN) and ongoing nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA) therapy.
The trial demonstrated that six doses of imdusiran and 24 weeks of IFN led to a functional cure in 50% of HBeAg-negative patients with baseline hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) levels below 1000 IU/mL. Overall, the trial achieved a 25% functional cure rate among all participants. Professor Man-Fung Yuen, the Principal Investigator of the trial, expressed optimism about these findings: “For the first time, we are seeing a meaningful percentage of HBV patients functionally cured with an RNAi therapeutic and interferon.”
This combination therapy was well-tolerated without any serious adverse events, marking a significant improvement over traditional approaches where only about 10% of patients achieve a functional cure with IFN alone. “These data are extremely impressive and provide hope for the millions of HBV patients worldwide and the medical community that a finite curative treatment is possible,” added Professor Yuen.
Dr. Karen Sims, Chief Medical Officer of Arbutus Biopharma, emphasized the broader implications of this research: “We are extremely excited to have functionally cured these patients with the imdusiran and interferon treatment regimen. These data support our belief that lowering surface antigen with imdusiran and incorporating an immunomodulator in the treatment regimen provides a functional cure in some patients with cHBV.”
This development is particularly significant given the global burden of chronic hepatitis B, which affects over 250 million people. The trial’s success offers a potential pathway to new treatment standards that could significantly benefit patients worldwide. Arbutus plans to advance imdusiran into a Phase 2b clinical trial, continuing its commitment to finding effective solutions for cHBV treatment.
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