Hepatitis B
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the most widespread viral infections in the world and poses a significant global public health problem. It is estimated that there are 350-400 million people worldwide have chronic HBV infection, including 2 million in the United States based on the recent report from Hepatitis B Foundation. During their life times, 10 to 40% of these individuals will develop serious liver disease. The major complication of chronic hepatitis B is the development of hepatocelluar carcinoma (HCC) which causes an estimated 500,000 deaths annually.
Currently there is no definite cure for chronic HBV infection. Several interferon-alpha products and nucleosides analogs have been approved for the treatment of HBV. The latter have become the mainstay of treatment owing to their oral administration and better side-effect profile. However, the emergence of viral resistance has been a challenge. Although the pathogenicity of polymerase inhibitor resistant mutants is uncertain, there clearly remains a need for alternatives and complements to interferon and nucleoside analogs, and for a diversity of approaches in developing HBV therapy.