Infectious Diseases & Virology

Hepatitis B & C

Understanding the global impact, therapeutic challenges, and the highly validated viral antigens driving the search for functional cures.

An estimated 325 million people worldwide are currently living with viral hepatitis B and C. There are 9 times more people infected with viral hepatitis than HIV, making it the second-largest infectious disease killer globally (with 1.4 million deaths a year, trailing only behind tuberculosis). Shockingly, roughly 80% of people living with hepatitis B and C lack access to prevention knowledge, accurate testing, and treatment services.

A Global Health Crisis

The World Health Organization (WHO) has formally declared that viral hepatitis is an international public health challenge comparable to other major communicable diseases, including malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV. While these other pathogens have become distinctly less lethal over the past decade due to aggressive therapeutic interventions, the absolute number of viral hepatitis-related deaths is steadily increasing.

1. Hepatitis B: The Search for a Cure

The Urgent Clinical Need

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the most widespread form of hepatitis worldwide. Even though a highly effective prophylactic vaccine and successful antiviral maintenance therapies are readily available, no complete functional cure currently exists.

In 2015, WHO actively estimated that 257 million people were living with chronic hepatitis B infections, resulting in an estimated 887,000 deaths (mostly stemming directly from long-term cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma). Pathological hepatitis is exclusively responsible for 30% of all global cases of cirrhosis and an astounding 53% of all liver cancer cases. In the upcoming decades, liver cancer deaths are expected to drastically increase while most other cancer deaths globally are on the decrease.

Recent Discoveries Enabling Research

There is immense global momentum pushing aggressively for a functional cure for HBV. Several recent virological discoveries are actively enabling a new era in dedicated HBV research, including:

• The identification of the NTCP receptor (the primary point of entry the virus uses to successfully infect host cells).
• Highly improved in vitro cell culture and pre-clinical animal models.
• The functional characterisation of HBx (the specialized viral protein that aggressively favours the ongoing replication of the virus).
• Vastly increased knowledge of complex HBV minichromosome biology and cellular persistence.

Path to a Functional Cure

As the natural immunological clearance of acute HBV does not always actively result in the total eradication of the reservoir cccDNA, the complete eradication of the virus (and all its highly stable replicative intermediates) may unfortunately be an unrealistic immediate clinical outcome. Therefore, what will most likely be required is a sophisticated combination of pharmacological strategies that target the active viral replication cycle while simultaneously enhancing the host immune response to specific viral antigens, resulting in a sustainable functional cure.

Hepatitis B Research Antigens

Biorbyt supplies a comprehensive range of highly validated native and recombinant Hepatitis B antigens (Surface, Core, and e) for advanced immunoassay development and clinical research.

Cat. Code	Hepatitis B Antigen Target	Source / Expression System
orb108198	HBsAg protein (Surface)	Human Blood (Native)
orb176371	HBsAg (ay) protein (Surface)	Human Blood (Native)
orb82327	HBsAg (ad) protein (Surface)	Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Recombinant)
orb358061	HBsAg (adr) protein (Surface)	CHO Cells (Recombinant)
orb82535	HBsAg (ayw) protein (Surface)	Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Recombinant)
orb82536	HBsAg (adw) protein (Surface)	Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Recombinant)
orb82587	Hepatitis B Core Ag	Pichia pastoris (Recombinant)
orb82519	Hepatitis B Ag 'e' epitope	E. coli (Recombinant)

2. Hepatitis C: Eradication Goals

Disease Facts

• Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is found worldwide, with an estimated 71 million people believed to be living with chronic HCV, leading directly to almost 400,000 deaths each year.
• There is currently no effective vaccine for hepatitis C, but modern antiviral medicines can successfully cure more than 95% of persons presenting with the infection.
• New HCV infections are usually completely asymptomatic, and an estimated 57 million people worldwide are totally unaware they are living with the highly destructive disease.
• Most people affected by hepatitis C live in LMICs (Low- and Middle-Income Countries) where there is a severe lack of access to clinical testing. In 2015, of those diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C, only 7% had ready access to the treatments that cure within three months.
• HCV damages the liver slowly over many decades, often leading directly to irreversible scarring (cirrhosis) and is a primary major cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer).

Is now a good time to be researching HCV?

Yes. The WHO has formally committed to eliminate hepatitis C globally by 2030, and there is massive widespread support to help achieve this through heavily funded initiatives from the World Hepatitis Alliance, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and the Medicines Patent Pool. Furthermore, there are several highly promising prophylactic vaccines currently in development which might prove to be the ultimate, powerful tool for permanently defeating HCV.

Hepatitis C Research Antigens

Ensure reliable viral detection and assay construction utilizing our specialized Hepatitis C paired antigens and ELISA targets.

Cat. Code	Hepatitis C Antigen Target	Expression System
orb316809	HCV NS3/Core/NS4/NS5 protein (Paired for Sandwich Assay)	E. coli
orb316810	HCV NS3/Core/NS4/NS5 protein (Paired for Sandwich Assay)	E. coli
orb82588	HCV Core Ag, recombinant protein	Pichia pastoris
orb82469	HCV NS-3 c33c, Subtype 1a, recombinant protein	E. coli
orb82483	HCV Nucleocapsid/NS3/NS4/NS5 recombinant protein	E. coli

3. References

1. World Health Organization. 2019. Hepatitis B. [Online]. [23 July 2019]. Available from: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-hepatitis-day/2019
2. NHS. 2019. Hepatitis B. [Online]. [18 July 2019]. Available from: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hepatitis-b/
3. World Health Organization. 2019. Hepatitis B. [Online]. [18 July 2019]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hepatitis-b
4. British liver trust. 2019. Hepatitis B. [Online]. [18 July 2019]. Available from: https://www.scribd.com/document/741017771/british-liver-trust
5. International Coalition to Eliminate HBV. 2019. Hepatitis C. [Online]. [31 July 2019]. Available from: http://ice-hbv.org
6. International Coalition to Eliminate HBV. 2019. Hepatitis C. [Online]. [31 July 2019]. Available from: http://ice-hbv.org/hep-b-cure/why/
7. ISGlobal. 2018. The Time to Cure Hepatitis B is Now. [Online]. [31 July 2019]. Available from: https://www.isglobal.org/en_GB/-/ahora-es-el-momento-de-curar-la-hepatitis-b
8. ISGlobal. 2016. Hepatitis C: The New Battleground for Access to Essential Medicines. [Online]. [31 July 2019]. Available from: https://www.isglobal.org/en_GB/-/hepatitis-c-el-nuevo-campo-de-batalla-por-el-acceso-a-medicamentos-esenciales
9. NHS. 2018. Hepatitis C. [Online]. [18 July 2019]. Available from: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hepatitis-c/
10. World Health Organization. 2019. Hepatitis C. [Online]. [18 July 2019]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hepatitis-c
11. 50 Years of Global Health Progress. IFPMA. Discovery to Cure in 25 Years. [Online]. [06 August 2019]. Available from: https://50years.ifpma.org/in-focus/hepatitis-c/