Arbutus hit as it discontinues hepatitis treatment

Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) has tanked after hours, falling 24.5% after a decision to stop development of AB-506.

That is an oral capsid inhibitor for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B.

“We have observed two cases of acute hepatitis in our Phase 1a 28-day clinical trial in healthy volunteers,” says CEO William Collier. “Consequently, the clinical trial and further development of AB-506 have been stopped.”

The two subjects are experiencing resolution of the acute hepatitis, he adds.

“While we are disappointed in these recent clinical findings, we have a number of oral follow-on capsid inhibitor compounds with distinct chemical scaffolds that we believe have the potential to contribute to the inhibition of HBV replication as part of a combination regimen,” says Chief Scientific Officer Michael Sofia. “Our objective is to select one of several lead compounds for IND-enabling studies by December of this year.”

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3503901-arbutus-minus-24_5-percent-discontinues-hepatitis-treatment