Gilead Sciences Inc. and Assembly Biosciences Inc. have entered into a 12-year partnership to advance the research and development of novel antiviral therapies, with an initial focus on Assembly’s established areas of herpesviruses, hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis D virus (HDV).
What CEO Jason Okazaki called Assembly Biosciences Inc.’s “monumental” deal for new antivirals with Gilead Sciences Inc. brings $100 million right away, consisting of an $84.8 million up-front payment and a $15.2 million equity investment. Wall Street liked it, and shares of South San Francisco-based Assembly (NASDAQ:ASMB) closed Oct. 17 at $1.25, up 52 cents or 72%, on word of the 12-year arrangement. Gilead (NASDAQ:GILD) ended at $80.48, up $1.28.
Epigenetic editing approach used the endogenous cellular mechanisms for regulating gene expression, leading to durable modulation of transcription without affecting the DNA sequence. Chroma Medicine Inc. scientists recently presented a novel epigenetic editing strategy for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.
Researchers from Assembly Biosciences Inc. recently presented details on the discovery and preclinical evaluation of a novel small-molecule hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis D virus (HDV) entry inhibitor, AB-1659.
The U.S. FDA recently convened an advisory hearing to discuss whether three in vitro diagnostics should be reclassified from class III to class II, including tests for the pathogens responsible for Hepatitis B and tuberculosis. The panel agreed that all three of the test types should be reshuffled to the lower-risk class II category, suggesting that test developers now have an opportunity to jump into a market with lower-cost tests that won’t need expensive and drawn-out clinical studies to obtain the FDA’s seal of approval.
Precision Biosciences Inc. uses its proprietary Arcus platform to develop in vivo gene editing therapies and has outlined new data from its wholly owned and partnered pipeline.
Brii Biosciences Ltd.’s therapeutic vaccine for hepatitis B (HBV), BRII-179 (VBI-2601), induced functional immune responses – inducing broad antibody and T-cell responses – in patients with chronic HBV in a phase II trial that evaluated the vaccine in combination with pegylated interferon-alfa, according to interim results.
Researchers from Janssen Pharmaceutica NV have reported the discovery of novel hepatitis B virus (HBV) capsid assembly modulators (CAMs) as potential therapeutic candidates against HBV infection. Synthesis and optimization of a new series of di-fluoro azepane HBV CAMs resulted in the identification of compound [I] as the lead candidate with DNA EC50 value of 8.5 nM when assessed in the HepG2.2.15 cellular assay.
