Benzinga | Jun 23, 2021 08:11AM EDT

Assembly Biosciences Presents Data From HBV Core Inhibitor Programs At International Liver Congress EASL 2021

Assembly Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASMB), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing innovative therapeutics targeting hepatitis B virus (HBV), today announced data from its three clinical-stage core inhibitor programs, vebicorvir (VBR or ABI-H0731), ABI-H2158 (2158), and ABI-H3733 (3733), in an oral presentation and two poster presentations during the International Liver Congress(tm) 2021, the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), taking place virtually June 23-26, 2021.



"We are pleased that the analyses of our next generation core inhibitors were selected for an oral presentation at EASL. We have demonstrated with VBR, our first-generation candidate, that we can achieve deep virologic suppression when combined with nucleos(t)ide reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NrtI) therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis B, and we now project that 2158 and 3733 will have increased potency and coverage to prevent cccDNA generation based on in vitro potency and clinical pharmacokinetic data. We are also encouraged by the enhanced profile of our fourth core inhibitor, which we plan to nominate by mid-year and has potential to be best-in-class," said John McHutchison, AO, MD, Chief Executive Officer and President of Assembly Bio. "The further analyses from the Phase 2 studies of VBR in our EASL poster presentations continue to inform our development strategy and the HBV field and will provide us greater insight as we conduct clinical trials combining our core inhibitors with NrtI and additional antiviral mechanisms. Overall, our data to date support our belief that core inhibitors combined with NrtI will form the backbone of finite and curative therapies for patients."