Ascentage Pharma, a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in developing novel therapies for cancers, chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and age-related diseases, announced that it has released results from a Phase I study of the investigational inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) antagonist APG-1387 in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), in an oral presentation at the 73rd American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Annual Meeting (AASLD 2022). This is the world’s first clinical study reporting favorable safety and preliminary efficacy of an IAP antagonist for the treatment of patients with CHB.
Data from this clinical study suggest that APG-1387 has anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) activity at doses of 12 mg and 30 mg, and synergistic effects when combined with sequential nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA) treatment. These data provide additional rationale for the continued development of APG-1387 in combination with other agents for the functional cure of CHB.
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HBV infection is a global public health threat. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 300 million people worldwide are living with hepatitis B and 1.1 million deaths occur annually due to hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and their effects including liver cancer, cirrhosis, and other conditions caused by chronic viral hepatitis1. In China, the surface antigen of the hepatitis B virus (HBsAg) is present in 5%-6% of the population, and there are approximately 70 million patients with chronic HBV infections the country, of whom 20-30 million have CHB2. A total of 77% of liver cirrhosis cases and 84% of all primary hepatocellular carcinoma cases are associated with HBV infections3. Current guidelines recommend entecavir, tenofovir, tenofovir alafenamide, and long-acting interferon as standard anti-HBV treatments. However, only a small percentage of the patients who receive long-term treatment with these therapies can achieve HBsAg negativity and continued immune response after treatment. Majority of the patients require prolonged or even lifetime treatment, thus presenting an enormous unmet medical need for safe and effective therapies that can minimize the risk of disease progression and achieve functional cure with a relatively short duration of treatment.
Discovered and developed by Ascentage Pharma with global intellectual property rights, APG-1387 is a potent and highly selective next-generation IAP antagonist that has already shown anti-HBV potential in preclinical studies. Currently, the drug candidate is being evaluated in a Phase II study for the treatment of patients with CHB in China. APG-1387 can induce apoptosis (programmed death in diseased cells) and confer immune modulation in HBV-infected liver cells, and has the potential as a novel therapeutic for the functional cure of CHB.