(RTTNews) - Aligos Therapeutics Inc. (ALGS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, on Wednesday presented positive data from ten presentations evaluating Pevifoscorvir sodium in treating chronic hepatitis B and other ongoing studies at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) congress, 2026.
Hepatitis B is one of the most common chronic viral infections, with over 2.34 million carriers worldwide. The virus is also the primary cause of liver cancer. The Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is diagnosed by detecting certain antigens, such as the hepatitis B e-antigen (HbeAg) or the hepatitis B surface antigen (HbsAg).
Pevifoscorvir sodium is an oral, small molecule, capsid assembly modulator-enhancer (CAM-E), that has shown antiviral activity by reducing the covalent closed circular DNA (cccDNA) reservoir, according to long-term follow up data from the Phase 1 study. The drug is being evaluated in combination with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate in the Phase 2 B-SUPREME study, in untreated HBeAg+ and HBeAg- adult patients of chronic HBV infection.
The new presented data from studies showed that untreated HbeAg+ patients who completed 96 weeks of pevifoscorvir sodium monotherapy, followed by nucleotide-analog therapy, showed decreased HBV and HBV RNA levels during the 24-week follow-up period. Additionally, HbsAg+ patients on the drug showed a reduction in HBV levels to below 3000 IU/ml, suggesting a functional cure regimen may be possible in combination with an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) agent such as ALG-170675, developed with partner Amoytop.
Preclinical in vitro data for ALG-001075, the active parent moiety of pevifoscorvir sodium, demonstrated potent and durable suppression of HBeAg, HBsAg, and intracellular HBV RNAs with effects persisting after treatment withdrawal, indicating a reduction in cccDNA levels and transcriptional activity. The drug also showed additive synergistic antiviral effect with ALG-170675, a developing, potentially first-in-class ASO agent.
The company is also exploring ASO candidates for the treatment of the hepatitis delta virus (HDV), and a THR-Beta agonist for the treatment of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).
ALGS closed Tuesday at $5.74, down 0.35%. In the pre-market, the stock is trading at $5.75, up 0.16%.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
