Hepatitis E is responsible for infecting millions of people and causing the deaths of 70,000 people every year. The worst part is that there is no approved treatment and vaccine for hepatitis E.
Individuals with chronically weakened immunity are at high risk of mortality compared to those equipped with a healthy immune system. So far, the only weapon against the hepatitis E virus is a strong immune system.
A new drug being tested for hepatitis C has shown effective results against the hepatitis E virus.
In a joint study conducted by German and Chinese researchers, the team screened a library of 500 antiviral compounds using a modified, fluorescent version of HEV (hepatitis E virus) to monitor viral growth in cell cultures.
This is evident from findings published in the journal Intestine, bemnifosbuvir, a nucleotide or nucleoside analogue, has emerged as the most promising candidate.
Bemnifosbuvir, a drug currently in critical trials for hepatitis C, proved effective against HEV by stopping the virus’s replication without claiming healthy cells.
According to Jungen Hu from the University of Heidelberg: “With bemnifosbuvir we could see that the virus no longer multiplied, while the treated cells remained healthy.”
“If the ongoing clinical trials of bemnifosbuvir against hepatitis C are successful, the drug could soon also be available for off-label use against hepatitis E,” said Dr. Viet Loan Dao Thi and Professor Eike Steinmann.
Animal tests were also conducted with this drug, which showed a reduction in both liver inflammation and viral activity.
