New drug shows promising results in chronic hepatitis B trial

The New England Journal of Medicine said a new drug developed for chronic hepatitis B produced encouraging results in third-phase clinical trials. The study involved 1,838 adults in 29 countries. Researchers said adding the drug to standard treatment led to functional recovery in about 20% of patients. In these cases, the immune system was able to keep the virus under control for more than six months without medication. The article said current treatments have a complete recovery rate of about 3%. Experts also said the result cannot yet be applied to severe patients with liver cirrhosis or HIV infection.