Assembly Biosciences Presents Data from HBV Core Inhibitor Programs in Poster Sessions at the 2020 AASLD The Liver Meeting Digital Experience

- Data show longer-term, differentiated safety profile of vebicorvir and the importance of HBV pregenomic (pg) RNA as a key biomarker, as well as highlight Assembly Bio’s core inhibitor clinical pipeline -

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Nov. 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Assembly Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASMB), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing innovative therapeutics targeting hepatitis B virus (HBV) and diseases associated with the microbiome, today announced that data from its HBV core inhibitor programs and related research will be highlighted during four poster sessions – including two late-breakers – at the 2020 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) The Liver Meeting Digital Experience^TM. The posters include data from the company’s HBV core inhibitor research and development programs, as well as a collaborative translational study using Assembly Bio’s sensitive HBV nucleic acid assays.

“Findings from these studies are adding to a growing body of clinical data that supports the differentiated safety profile of vebicorvir in combination with nucleos(t)ide therapy,” said Ira M. Jacobson, MD, Director of Hepatology at New York University Langone Medical Center. “New treatment options for HBV patients are long overdue and the addition of a core inhibitor to the standard-of-care regimen may offer better chronic suppressive therapy to a significant patient population. These longer-term safety data, along with the demonstrated association of HBV pgRNA and changes in HBV viral antigens presented at this conference, are very encouraging and support the continued advancement of the company’s core inhibitor programs.”  

“Chronic hepatitis B virus infection is incredibly complex. Through this research, we are proud to continue to contribute to the scientific community’s understanding of hepatitis B and the importance of deepening virologic suppression as it relates to both improving chronic suppressive therapy and reducing downstream clinically important liver-related events,” said John McHutchison, AO, MD, Chief Executive Officer and President at Assembly Biosciences. “Further, these data highlight the potential of our more potent core inhibitor candidates, ABI-H2158 and ABI-H3733. We believe that core inhibitors represent a significant advancement in the HBV field and we remain focused on upcoming milestones, including planned Phase 3 registrational trials of vebicorvir in China and globally in the first half of 2021.”