Arbutus Biopharma announces new data from IM-PROVE I Phase 2a trial

Arbutus Biopharma (ABUS) announced new data from its IM-PROVE I Phase 2a clinical trial showing that six doses of imdusiran, the company’s RNAi therapeutic candidate, and 24 weeks of pegylated interferon alfa-2a, or IFN, a standard-of-care immunomodulator, added to ongoing nucleos(t)ide analogue therapy, led to a functional cure rate of 50%, or 3 of 6, in HBeAg-negative patients with baseline HBsAg levels less than 1000 IU/mL, and an overall functional cure rate of 25%. Patients with HBsAg levels less than 1000 IU/mL represent a significant portion of the cHBV population. These data will be presented as a late-breaker poster presentation on November 18, 2024 at The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, or AASLD. “We are extremely excited to have functionally cured these patients with the imdusiran and interferon treatment regimen. There is a significant need for a functional cure for the more than 250 million patients chronically infected with HBV worldwide,” commented Dr. Karen Sims, Chief Medical Officer of Arbutus Biopharma. “Excess production of surface antigen is believed to contribute to host immune exhaustion, resulting in inadequate immune response and failure to suppress the virus. These data support our belief that lowering surface antigen with imdusiran and incorporating an immunomodulator in the treatment regimen provides a functional cure in some patients with cHBV. We thank all the patients and investigators who participated in this clinical trial.”