Keting Chu, Bluejay Therapeutics CEO

No­var­tis-part­nered biotech nabs new cash, boost­ing ef­forts to de­vel­op 'func­tion­al cure' for chron­ic he­pati­tis B

Every year, 820,000 peo­ple die of chron­ic he­pati­tis B in­fec­tions glob­al­ly, and 1.5 mil­lion get in­fect­ed, de­spite the avail­abil­i­ty of vac­cines and treat­ments, ac­cord­ing to the CDC. Cur­rent stan­dard-of-care treat­ments can be ef­fec­tive in stop­ping virus repli­ca­tion, but they re­quire pa­tients to be on meds for life.

Blue­jay Ther­a­peu­tics, which was found­ed in 2019, is try­ing to change that, aim­ing to de­vel­op a func­tion­al cure for he­pati­tis B in­fec­tions by mak­ing HB­sAg — vi­ral pro­tein-sur­face anti­gens — com­plete­ly un­de­tectable with­in six months of treat­ment. And it’s got a new round of cash to try mak­ing it a re­al­i­ty.

Endpoints News

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.