Press Release
MONTREAL, February 18th, 2019 – Replicor Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company targeting a cure for patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and chronic HBV and hepatitis delta virus (HDV) co-infection, announces the publication of new data examining the antiviral mechanism of REP 2139 in HBV infection in the journal of Antiviral Research. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166354218307551?via%3Dihub
The article is entitled “Inhibition of HBsAg secretion by nucleic acid polymers in HepG2.2.15 cells” and is the first publication from an ongoing collaboration between Replicor and Dr. Patrick Labonté at the Institute Armand Frappier, part of the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (IAF-INRS), located in Laval, Quebec, Canada. This new data firmly establishes not only the ability of REP 2139 to block the release of HBsAg but also its ability to reduce intracellular HBsAg.
Dr. Andrew Vaillant, CSO at Replicor commented, “This study is the first to provide tangible observation of the inhibition of HBsAg release and the simultaneous reduction of intracellular HBsAg in infected cells, consistent with the clearance of HBsAg from the blood and liver observed in several previously published pre-clinical and clinical studies.” The publication provides additional data suggesting that these antiviral effects are driven by inhibition of assembly of subviral particles, not by a direct inhibition of their secretion.
Dr. Vaillant added, “while additional work is underway in this model to identify potential host targets for REP 2139, these data provide an important bridge between antiviral mechanism of REP 2139 in HBV and the observed antiviral effects of REP 2139-based therapy in clinical studies.”
About Replicor
Replicor is a privately held biopharmaceutical company with the most advanced animal and human clinical data in the development of the cure for HBV and HDV. The company is dedicated to accelerating the development of an effective treatment for patients with HBV and HBV/HDV co-infection. For further information about Replicor please visit our website at www.replicor.com.
Media Contact:
Natacha Dorget
ndorget@replicor.com
(514) 733-1998