The drug is being developed by Ionis Pharmaceuticals and GSK. The companies are also collaborating on the development of IONIS-HBV Rx, a generation 2.0+ antisense HBV drug.
Ionis has received a $1.5m milestone payment from GSK related to the start of IONIS-HBV-LRx phase 1 study.
IONIS-HBV-LRx features Ionis’ LIgand Conjugated Antisense technology that increases drug potency by improving delivery of the drug to its target tissue, which is the liver for this drug.
HBV infection affects the liver and can result in potential fatal health conditions, including cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer.
Ionis Pharmaceuticals senior vice president of research Frank Bennett said: "Current treatments for patients with chronic HBV do not effectively clear HBV, and these patients are unable to fully control HBV infection and achieve sustained disease remission.
"As such, more effective HBV medicines that provide greater viral inhibition and permit greater immune system activity against the viral antigens are needed."
Ionis Pharmaceuticals has recently received orphan drug designation from the US Food and Drug Administration for IONIS-HTT Rx to treat Huntington’s disease (HD), a neurodegenerative genetic disorder.