A way to defeat chronic hepatitis B is discovered in Russia

The development of a new drug for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B is in the final stage. Scientists at the Sechenov University of the Ministry of Health of Russia have made significant progress in this regard, creating a drug that can completely cure this dangerous disease. Dmitry Kostyushev, the head of the Laboratory of Genetic Technologies at Sechenov University in Moscow, told about it in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily.

Chronic hepatitis B remains one of the most serious public health threats worldwide. Despite the availability of a vaccine developed back in 1981, about 350 million people still suffer from this disease, writes Planet Today. About one million people die from the effects of hepatitis B every year. The existing treatment methods can only control the activity of the virus, but they are not capable of completely ridding the body of the infection.

Dmitry Kostyushev explains that the main problem of the existing therapy is the need for life-long medication. This not only reduces the quality of life of patients, but also some consider it useless and may stop their treatment. Such a decision can have disastrous consequences because if left unchecked, the virus will continue to destroy the liver, leading to cirrhosis and cancer.

The new drug being developed at Sechenov University uses a fundamentally different approach to treatment. Instead of suppressing the activity of the virus, it is aimed at the complete removal of the viral genome from the cells of the body. This became possible thanks to the creation of a special molecular tool capable of recognizing and destroying the viral DNA.

Meanwhile, the development of such a drug faces a number of difficulties. One of them is the lack of suitable models for testing. The fact is that the hepatitis B virus infects only humans and chimpanzees, while experiments on the latter are prohibited. To solve this problem, scientists have created genetically modified mice susceptible to the hepatitis B virus.

Kostyushev emphasized that the most effective treatment strategy would include a combination of existing therapy and the new drug. Standard treatment will first reduce the activity of the virus to a minimum, and then the new drug will completely remove it from the cells.

It is important to note that the drug under development will only be effective against hepatitis B. But its use will indirectly protect patients from hepatitis D, which can only develop in people already infected with the hepatitis B virus.

The success of this drug could be a turning point in the fight against viral hepatitis. Although hepatitis C is now treatable thanks to modern antiviral drugs, hepatitis B remained incurable until now. But the new drug could change that situation, giving hope to millions of people around the world.

Research conducted at Sechenov University is at the forefront of world science. According to Kostyushev, their laboratory was ahead of many rivals in a number of indicators.

The development of a new hepatitis B drug is part of a broader strategy to combat viral hepatitis.

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