IP-cure-B & TherVacB researchers join forces to accelerate hepatitis B cure research

Experts in virology, immunology and clinical hepatitis from two research projects are working towards to cure hepatitis B: ‘IP-cure-B – Take care of your health’ and ‘TherVacB – A therapeutic vaccine to cure Hepatitis B’.

To jointly tackle some of the major challenges in the therapy of viral hepatitis, researchers have met for a first round of strategic discussions in July 2023.

The two research projects share the common goal to achieve functional cure of hepatitis B. For this, they investigate different aspects of the viral hepatitis B infection (HBV) and the HBV-mediated chronic disease:

IP-cure-B aims to improve the cure rate in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) with complementary immunomodulatory concepts. Immune interventions are investigated in two settings, in a pre-clinical model and a proof-of-concept clinical study. Innovations in immunotherapy will boost the strategic selection of the best combination for effective treatment in future clinical studies.

TherVacB provides a novel curative treatment option that aims to break immune tolerance in chronic HBV infection. This will allow the immune system to clear the virus. New vaccine components will be tested in patients with CHB in a multicentre clinical proof-of-concept study. Finally, TherVacB aims to provide a new and affordable, safe and well tolerable treatment option to cure CHB – and a first opportunity for patients in Tanzania to be treated for hepatitis B.

The innovations from the two projects will be instrumental to meeting the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 3:

• combat hepatitis B (and D) viral infection worldwide by the year 2030,
• ensure sustained health, increase the quality of life and stop stigmatization,
• including in highly endemic countries that cannot afford lifelong therapies and their monitoring.