Sequential Peg-IFN after bepirovirsen may reduce post-treatment relapse in chronic hepatitis B
Recommended Citation
Buti M, Heo J, Tanaka Y, Andreone P, Atsukawa M, Cabezas J, Chak E, Coffin CS, Fujiwara K, Gankina N, Gordon SC, Janczewska E, Komori A, Lampertico P, McPherson S, Morozov V, Plesniak R, Poulin S, Ryan P, Sagalova O, Sheng G, Voloshina N, Xie Q, Yim HJ, Dixon S, Paff M, Felton L, Lee M, Greene T, Lim J, Lakshminarayanan D, McGonagle G, Plein H, Youssef A, Elston R, Kendrick S, and Theodore D. Sequential Peg-IFN after bepirovirsen may reduce post-treatment relapse in chronic hepatitis B. J Hepatol 2024.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-28-2024
Publication Title
Journal of hepatology
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Bepirovirsen, an antisense oligonucleotide, induces sustained hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA below lower limit of quantification (
METHODS: Phase 2b, multicentre, randomised, open-label trial. Participants on stable nucleos(t)ide analog (NA) therapy were randomised 1:1 to bepirovirsen 300 mg once weekly (plus loading dose on Days 4 and 11) for 24 (Arm 1) or 12 (Arm 2) weeks followed by Peg-IFN 180 mcg once weekly for up to 24 weeks, with up to 36 weeks follow-up. Participants continued NA therapy throughout.
PRIMARY OUTCOME: proportion of participants with HBsAg <0.05 IU/mL and HBV DNA
RESULTS: The intent-to-treat population included 108 participants (Arm 1=55; Arm 2=53). The primary outcome was achieved by 5 (9%) participants in Arm 1 and 8 (15%) in Arm 2. All responders had baseline HBsAg ≤3000 IU/mL. Indirect comparison with the Phase 2b study B-Clear indicates that sequential addition of Peg-IFN may reduce the relapse rates previously observed with bepirovirsen alone. The proportions of participants with adverse events (AEs) and treatment-related AEs in both treatment windows were similar between treatment arms.
CONCLUSIONS: Sequential therapy with bepirovirsen followed by Peg-IFN is tolerable and effective in participants with chronic HBV infection on stable NA. This proof-of-concept trial demonstrates a potential strategy to extend responses to bepirovirsen by reducing relapse.
FUNDING: GSK (study 209348/NCT04676724). CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: NCT04676724.
PubMed ID
39214467
ePublication
ePub ahead of print
